Cocaine is one of the top addictive substances not only in the United States but in the world. Despite its many adverse effects, cocaine continues to be attractive to users. Records show that over a million visits to the emergency departments of U.S. hospitals occurred due to cocaine abuse or misuse in 2014.

While cocaine is accepted for certain medical purposes, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classifies it as a schedule II drug. This means that it is dangerous and the risk of abusing it is high. Given these designations, the recreational use of cocaine is illegal and violators can face penalties, including steep fines, serious jail time, or both.

Unfortunately, no strong warnings or severe punishments can deter some people from using this highly addictive substance. To evade the police and other authorities, cocaine users and dealers use slang or street names when buying or dealing cocaine in the black market. While the term coke is probably the most popular street name for cocaine, it is interesting to note that there are multiple nicknames for cocaine that have their own unique and colorful stories.

Street Names for Cocaine Based on Appearance

To find cocaine in its most natural form, consider traveling to South America. There, people extract the addictive substance from the green leaves of a plant known as Erythroxylon coca. Since ancient times, people have ingested the drug in its raw form by chewing these leaves, but many people today use more processed forms of cocaine.

As a result, many users today may not even know that cocaine comes from leaves in the first place. Instead, they encounter cocaine in the form of flaky white powder or hard white rocks. Considering these processed forms, many cocaine nicknames relate to its appearance:

• Bernie’s flakes

• Bernie’s gold dust

• C-dust

• Dust

• Big flake

• Crack

• Flake

• Gold dust

• Pearl

• Snow white

• White powder

• Heaven dust

• Paradise white

• White

• Devil’s dandruff

• Angel powder

Street Names for Cocaine Based on American Culture

Cocaine increased in popularity during the 1970s and the 1980s. This popularity started affecting various aspects of American society. Wines and tonics that were spiked with cocaine became popular.

The use of this highly addictive drug was particularly prevalent among individuals in the entertainment industry. As a result, some slang terms for cocaine included terms that depicted its impact on American culture and the culture’s effect on cocaine use. Some of the street names for cocaine in this category include:

• All-American drug

• Star-spangled powder

• California pancakes

• Designer jeans

• Florida snow

• Girlfriend

• Love affair

• Audi

• Late night

• Movie star drug

• Society high

• Rambo

Street Names for Cocaine Based on Place of Origin

Apart from its appearance and cultural influences, other slang terms for cocaine were based on the names of the places where the substance originated or its perceived places of origin. The nicknames are sometimes used to determine the cocaine’s market value or at least its perceived value. These nicknames include:

• Inca message

• Perico

• Peruvian

• Peruvian flake

• Peruvian lady

• Burnese

• Peruvian marching powder

• Bolivian marching powder

Street Names for Cocaine Based on Its Effects

As a stimulant drug, cocaine use provides a rush or feelings of euphoria. The pleasurable effects of this substance have prompted the creation of many street names, such as the following:

• Big rush

• Happy dust

• Happy powder

• Happy trails

• Joy flakes

• Joy powder

• Glad stuff

• Paradise

• Paradise white

• Marching powder

• Bouncing powder

• Heaven

Street Names for Cocaine Based on People’s Names

As with other slang terms for illegal drugs, there are many street names for cocaine that have been coined based on people’s names. Such names may help drug pushers and users to conceal the topic of their conversations. Some of the names can be linked with the word cocaine or properties of the drug. Other names appear to have no obvious connection with the substance at all. Examples of these names include:

• Aunt Nora

• Angie

• Billie Hoke

• Blanca Nieves

• Cecil

• Charlie

• Cheyenne

• Connie

• Cookie

• John Deere

Street Names for Cocaine Based on Wordplay

Among cocaine’s many street names, you might be most familiar with terms that were coined from the words cocaine or coke, including:

• Coke

• Cola

• Coca

• Coca-Cola

• Cocazo

• Coconut

• Mama coca

The nicknames for cocaine mentioned above are just some of the many terms used today. While they are often uttered during drug dealing transactions, cocaine abusers may also use these terms during social gatherings, such as parties among friends or events in clubs and bars.

Knowing these slang words for cocaine may help you be more vigilant against drug use and abuse. It may assist you if you are worried that someone you love is dealing with an addiction. Knowing the lingo is part of the battle to help you help those you love. Being aware of these terms can inform you about your loved one’s struggles and help him or her find help.