AC/DC — codeine cough syrup
Agonies — withdrawal symptoms
Ah-pen-yen — opium
AIP — heroin from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan
Al Capone — heroin
Amidone — methadone
Antifreeze — heroin
Apache — fentanyl
Aries — heroin
Aunt Hazel — heroin
Aunti — opium
Aunti Emma — opium
Author — doctor who writes illegal prescriptions

[ B ]

Back jack — injecting opium
Bad bundle — inferior quality heroin; damaged heroin
Balloon — heroin supplier; balloon containing narcotics
Ballot — heroin
Bang — to inject a drug
Barr — codeine cough syrup
Bart Simpson — heroin
Batman — cocaine; heroin
Batt — IV/hypodermic needle
Beans — OxyContin; Percocet
Big bag — heroin
Big guys — 80 mg OxyContin pills or generic equivalent
Big H — heroin
Big Harry — heroin
Big O — opium
Bin Laden — heroin (post-9/11)
Bindle — small packet of drug powder; heroin
Bipping — snorting heroin and cocaine, either seperately or together
Black — opium
Black eagle — heroin
Black hash — opium mixed with hashish
Black pearl— heroin
Black pill — opium pill
Black Russian — opium mixed with hashish
Black stuff — heroin; opium
Black tar — heroin
Blanco (Spanish) — heroin; cocaine
Blank — container of unknown, nonnarcotic powder sold as heroin
Blows — heroin
Blue bag — heroin
Bomb — crack; heroin; large marijuana cigarette; high-potency heroin
Bombido — heroin; injectable amphetamine; depressants
Bombs away — heroin
Bonita (Spanish) — heroin
Boy — cocaine; heroin
Bozo — heroin
Brain damage — heroin
Brea (Spanish) — heroin
Brick gum — heroin
Broja — heroin
Brown — heroin
Brown crystal — heroin
Brown rhine — heroin
Brown sugar — heroin
Brown tape — heroin
Bull dog — heroin
Bundle — heroin
Burned — purchase fake drugs; getting ripped off during a drug deal
Butu — heroin

[ C ]

Caballo (Spanish) — heroin
Caca — heroin
Calbo (Spanish) — heroin
Canade — heroin/marijuana combination
Candy — OxyContin
Capital H — heroin
Caps — heroin; psilocybin/psilocin; crack; gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB)
Carga (Spanish) — heroin
Carne (Spanish) — heroin
Chandoo/chandu — opium
Chapopote (Spanish) — heroin
Charley — heroin
Chasing the dragon — smoking heroin; crack mixed with heroin; chasing the initial high
Chasing the tiger — to smoke heroin
Chiba — heroin
Chicle (Spanish) — heroin
Chieva — heroin
China girl — fentanyl
China town — fentanyl
China white — fentanyl; heroin; synthetic heroin
Chinese molasses — opium
Chinese red — heroin
Chinese tobacco — opium
Chip — heroin
Chipper — an occasional drug user (applies to all drug use, including cigarette smoking)
Chipping — using drugs occasionally (applies to all drug use, including cigarette smoking)
Chiva/chieva (Spanish) — heroin
Choco-fan — heroin
Chocolate — marijuana; opium; amphetamine
Chocolate-chip cookies — MDMA combined with heroin or methadone
Climax — heroin; crack; isobutyl nitrate; inhalants
Cocofan (Spanish) — brown tar heroin
Cold turkey — quitting drugs abruptly and without tapering first
Cook — mix heroin with water; heating heroin in preparation for injection
Cook down — process in which users liquefy or “melt” heroin in order to inhale it
Cop — to obtain/purchase drugs
Cotics — heroin
Coties — codeine
Cotton brothers — cocaine, heroin, and morphine
Cotton fever — critically high temperature associated with accidentally injecting cotton fibers into the bloodstream
Courage pills — heroin; depressants
Crackers — Talwin (Pentazocine) and Ritalin injected for effects similar to the effects produced by heroin mixed with cocaine
Crank — crack cocaine; heroin; amphetamine; methamphetamine; methcathinone
Crap — low quality heroin
Crash — the dysphoric effects that arise after the primary effects of a drug wears off
Crop — low-quality heroin
Crown crap — heroin
Cruz (Spanish) — opium from Veracruz, Mexico
Cura (Spanish) — heroin
Cut — an adulterant mixed in with powdered drugs to increase quantity and profit, which also lowers potency
Cut-deck — heroin cut with powdered milk

[ D ]

Dance fever — fentanyl
Dead on arrival (DOA) — heroin (DOA has also been used to describe crack & PCP)
Dead president — heroin
Deck — 1 to 15 grams of heroin
Deuce — heroin
Diesel — heroin
Dime bag — $10 worth of drugs
Dime’s worth — amount of heroin to cause death
Dinosaurs — heroin users in their forties and fifties
Dirt — heroin
Dog/dogg (dawg) — close/good friend
Dog food — heroin
Dogie — heroin
Doogie/doojee/dugie — heroin
Dooley — heroin
Doosey — heroin
Dope — heroin; marijuana; any other drug
Dope fiend — a person dependent on drugs
Dopium — opium
Dors and 4s — combination of Doriden and Tylenol #4 (60 mg of codeine phosphate)
Double-breasted dealing — dealing cocaine and heroin together
Dover’s deck — opium
Dover’s powder — opium
Down — codeine cough syrup
Dr. Feelgood — heroin
Dragon rock — mixture of heroin and crack
Dream gun — opium
Dream stick — opium
Dreamer — morphine
Dreams — opium
Dreck — heroin
Duji — heroin
Dujre — heroin
Dynamite — cocaine mixed with heroin
Dyno — heroin
Dyno-pure — heroin

[ E ]

Easing powder — opium
Eighth — an eighth ounce of marijuana or heroin
Eighty — an 80 mg OxyContin pill or generic equivalent
El diablito (Spanish) — cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and PCP
El diablo (Spanish) — cocaine, marijuana, and heroin
Emsel — morphine
Estuffa — heroin

[ F ]

Feenin — having a strong craving for a drug
Ferry dust — heroin
Fi-do-nie — opium
First line — morphine
Fix — administering a drug after being in withdrawal and the relief associated with being high again
Fizzies — methadone
Flea powder — low-purity heroin
Foil — heroin
Foo foo stuff — heroin; cocaine
Foolish powder — cocaine; heroin
Forty — 40 mg OxyContin pill or generic equivalent
Forty bar — 40 mg OxyContin pill or generic equivalent
Frisco special — cocaine, heroin, and LSD
Frisco speedball — cocaine, heroin, and a dash of LSD
Front — have drugs lended on a credit-based system
Furra — heroin

[ G ]

Galloping horse — heroin
Gallup — heroin
Gamot — heroin
Garbage — low-quality heroin
Gato (Spanish) — heroin
Gee — opium
George — heroin
George smack — heroin
Get off — to inject a drug; to get high
Getting snotty — using heroin
Give wings — inject someone or teach someone how to inject heroin
Glacines — heroin
Glass — heroin; amphetamine; hypodermic needle; methamphetamine
God’s drug — morphine
God’s medicine — opium
Gold — marijuana; crack cocaine; heroin
Golden girl — heroin
Golpe — heroin
Goma (Spanish) — black tar heroin; opium
Gondola — opium
Gong — marijuana; opium
Good — PCP; heroin
Good and plenty — heroin
Good H — heroin
Good Horse — heroin
Goodfellas — fentanyl
Goric — opium
Gravy — heroin
Great bear — fentanyl
Great tobacco — opium
Gum — opium
Guma — opium

[ H ]

H — heroin
H & C — heroin & cocaine
H Caps — heroin
Hache — heroin
Hairy — heroin
Half piece — half ounce of heroin or cocaine
Hard candy — heroin
Hard stuff — heroin; opium
Harry — heroin
Hayron — heroin
Hazel — heroin
H-bomb — MDMA mixed with heroin
Heat — police or narcotics officers
Heaven — cocaine; heroin
Heaven dust — cocaine; heroin
Helen — heroin
He-man — fentanyl
Henry — heroin
Hera — heroin
Hero — heroin
Hero of the underworld — heroin
Heroina (Spanish) — heroin
Herone — heroin
Hillbilly heroin — OxyContin or generic equivalent
Him — heroin
Hocus — marijuana; opium
Hombre (Spanish) — heroin
Homicide — heroin cut with scopolamine or strychnine
Hong-yen — heroin in pill form
Hop/hops — opium
Horse — heroin
Horsebite — heroin
Hospital heroin — Dilaudid
Hot dope— heroin
Hot heroin — heroin poisoned to give a police informant
Hows — morphine
HRN — heroin
Hype — herion addict; an addict; MDMA
Hype stick — hypodermic needle

[ I ]

Indonesian bud — marijuana; opium
Isda — heroin
Itchies — OxyContin; opioids in general (stems from the side effect caused by histamine release in the brain, itching)

[ J ]

Jackpot — fentanyl
Jee gee — heroin
Jerry Springer — heroin
Jive — marijuana; heroin; drugs
Jive doo jee — heroin
Joharito — heroin
Jojee — heroin
Jolly pop — casual user of heroin
Jones — heroin
Jonesing/jonesin’ — drug craving
Joy — heroin
Joy flakes — heroin
Joy plant — opium
Joy powder — cocaine; heroin
Junco — heroin
Junk — cocaine; heroin
Junkie — addict

[ K ]

Kabayo — heroin
Karachi — heroin, phenobarbital, and methaqualone
Karo — codeine cough syrup
Keester plant — drugs hidden in the rectum
Kick — getting off a drug habit
Kicker — OxyContin or generic equivalent
Kiddie dope — prescription drugs
King ivory — fentanyl

[ L ]

La buena (Spanish) — heroin
LBJ — heroin; LSD; PCP
Lean — codeine cough syrup
Lemonade — heroin; poor-quality drugs
Lipton Tea — poor-quality drugs
Little bomb — heroin; amphetamine; depressants
Load — (25) twenty-five bags of heroin
Loaded — high

[ M ]

Manteca (Spanish) — heroin
Matsakow — heroin
Mayo — cocaine; heroin
Meth speedball — methamphetamine combined with heroin
Mexican brown — marijuana; heroin
Mexican horse — heroin
Midnight oil — opium
Mira (Spanish) — opium
Miss Emma — morphine
Mister blue — morphine
Mojo — cocaine; heroin
Moonrock — crack mixed with heroin
Moonstone — when a dealer shaves a slice of MDMA into a bag of heroin
Morf — morphine
Morotgara — heroin
Morpho — morphine
Mortal combat — high-potency heroin
M.S. — morphine
Mud — heroin; opium
Murder one — heroin and cocaine
Murder 8 — fentanyl
Murotugora — heroin
Muzzle — heroin

[ N ]

Nailed — arrested; caught
Nanoo — heroin
New Jack Swing — heroin and morphine
Nice and easy — heroin
Nickel bag — $5 of drugs; heroin
Nickel deck — heroin
Nod — an effect of opiates and opioids where the user switches between a half-asleep dreamy state and semi-consciousness
Nods — codeine cough syrup
Noise — heroin
Nose — cocaine; heroin
Nose drops — liquefied heroin
Number 3 — cocaine; heroin
Number 4 — heroin
Number 8 — heroin
Nurse — heroin

[ O ]

O — opium
Ogoy — heroin
Oil — heroin; PCP
Old navy — heroin
Old Steve — heroin
On the ball — when a dealer shaves a slice of MDMA into a bag of heroin
On the nod — under the influence of an opiate or opioid
One and Ones — Talwin and Ritalin combination injected to produce an effect similar to cocaine mixed with heroin
One way — LSD; heroin
One-on-one house — where cocaine and heroin can be purchased
One-plus-one sales — selling cocaine and heroin together
One-stop shop — Place where multiple drugs are sold
O.P. — opium
Ope — opium; an opiate; an opioid
Opes — opiates; opioids (SE PA)
Orange crates — OxyContin or generic equivalent
Orange crush — OxyContin or generic equivalent
Orange line — heroin
Ox — OxyContin pill or generic equivalent
Oxicotten — OxyContin pill or generic equivalent
Oxy — OxyContin pill or generic equivalent
Oxy 80 — an 80 mg OxyContin pill or generic equivalent
Oxycet — pharmaceutical containing both oxycodone and acetaminophen; a semisynthetic opiate
Oxycotton — OxyContin pill or generic equivalent

[ P ]

Pack — marijuana; heroin
Pancakes and syrup — combination of glutethimide and codeine cough syrup
Pangonadalot — heroin
Paper — a dosage unit of heroin; one-tenth gram or less of the drug ice, or methamphetamine
Paper boy — heroin peddler
Parachute — to pulverize a pill into a fine powder, wrap it in a tissue, and swallow to get high faster; heroin; smokable crack and heroin mixture
Peg — heroin
Pen yan — opium
Perfect high — heroin
Perks/percs — Percocet; oxycodone/acetaminophen containing pharmaceuticals
Perlas (Spanish) — street dealer (heroin)
P-funk — crack mixed with PCP; heroin
Pharming — consuming a mixture of prescription drugs
Pill houses — residences where pills are illicitly sold
Pin gon — opium
Pin yen — opium
Poison — heroin; fentanyl
Polo — mixture of heroin and motion-sickness drug
Polvo (Spanish) — heroin; PCP
Poor man’s heroin — OxyContin pill or generic equivalent
Poppy — heroin
Pox — opium
Predator — heroin
Primo — crack; marijuana mixed with cocaine; crack and heroin; heroin, cocaine, and tobacco
Primos — cigarette laced with cocaine and heroin
Pulborn — heroin

[ Q ]

Quill — cocaine; heroin; methamphetamine

[ R ]

Racehorse Charlie — cocaine; heroin
Ragweed — inferior-quality marijuana; heroin
Rambo — heroin
Rane — cocaine; heroin
Raw fusion — heroin
Raw hide — heroin
Red chicken — heroin
Red eagle — heroin
Red rock — heroin
Red rock opium — incense sold as opium; heroin, barbital, strychnine, and caffeine
Red rum — heroin, barbital, strychnine, and caffeine
Red stuff — heroin, barbital, strychnine, and caffeine
Reindeer dust — heroin
Rhine — heroin
Ritz and Ts — a combination of Ritalin and Talwin injected
Rollers — police

[ S ]

Sack — heroin
Salt — heroin
Sam — federal narcotics agent
Sandwich — two layers of cocaine with a layer of heroin in the middle
Satch cotton — fabric used to filter a solution of narcotics before injection
Scag — heroin
Scat — heroin
Scate — heroin
Scott — heroin
Second to none — heroin
Serial speedballing — sequencing cocaine, cough syrup, and heroin over a half-day period
Sharps — hypodermic needles
Shit — heroin
Shmeck/schmeek — heroin
Shoot — heroin
Silk — heroin
Skag — heroin
Skee — opium
Skid — heroin
Skunk — marijuana; heroin
Slanging — selling drugs
Sleeper — heroin; depressants
Slime — heroin
Smack — heroin
Smoking gun — heroin and cocaine
Snow — cocaine; heroin; amphetamine
Snowball — cocaine and heroin
Speedball — cocaine mixed with heroin; crack and heroin smoked together; methylphenidate (Ritalin) mixed with heroin
Speedballing — to shoot up or smoke a mixture of cocaine and heroin or any stimulant and depressant for that matter
Spider — heroin
Spider blue — heroin
Spike — heroin cut with scopolamine or strychnine; to inject a drug; IV/hypodermic needle
Spoon— one-sixteenth ounce of heroin; instrument used to prepare heroin for injection
Stuff — heroin
Sweet dreams — heroin
Sweet Jesus — heroin

[ T ]

Tango & Cash — fentanyl
Tar — crack and heroin smoked together; heroin; opium
Taste — heroin; small sample of drugs
Tecata (Spanish) — heroin
Tecatos — Hispanic heroin addict
Thanie — heroin
The beast — heroin
The witch — heroin
Thoroughbred — drug dealer who sells pure narcotics
Thunder — heroin
Tigre (Spanish) — heroin
Tigre blanco (Spanish) — heroin
Tigre del norte (Spanish) — heroin
Tits — black tar heroin
T.N.T. — heroin; fentanyl
TNT — fentanyl
Tongs — heroin
Tools — equipment used for injecting drugs
Tootsie Roll — heroin
Top drool — heroin
Toxy — opium
Toys — opium
Tracks/track marks — needle marks, many times forming a row/line, on a person
Train — heroin
Twin Towers — heroin (post-9/11)

[ U ]

Uncle — federal agents
Unkie — morphine

[ V ]

Vidrio (Spanish) — heroin

[ W ]

When-shee — opium
White — heroin; amphetamine
White boy — heroin
White girl — cocaine; heroin
White horse — cocaine; heroin
White junk — heroin
White nurse — heroin
White stuff — heroin
Wicked — a potent brand of heroin
Wings — cocaine; heroin
Witch — cocaine; heroin
Witch hazel — heroin
Works — equipment for injecting drugs
WTC — heroin (post-9/11)

[ Y ]

Yen Shee Suey — opium wine

[ Z ]

Z — one ounce of heroin
Ze — opium
Zero — opium
Zoquete (Spanish) — heroin

-William S. Burroughs

“Junk is not like alcohol or weed, a means to increased enjoyment of life. Junk is not a kick. It is a way of life.”
-William S. Burroughs

“The junk merchant doesn’t sell his product to the consumer, he sells the consumer to the product. He does not improve and simplify his merchandise. He degrades and simplifies the client.”
-William S. Burroughs, “Naked Lunch”

“It is not opium which makes me work but its absence, and in order for me to feel its absence it must from time to time be present.”
-Antonin Artaud

“Tobacco and opium have broad backs, and will cheerfully carry the load of armies, if you choose to make them pay high for such joy as they give and such harm as they do.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Thou hast the keys of Paradise, oh just, subtle, and mighty opium!”
-Thomas De Quincey

“Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death. To smoke opium is to get out of the train while it is still moving. It is to concern oneself with something other than life or death.”
-Jean Cocteau

“It is difficult to live without opium after having known it because it is difficult, after knowing opium, to take earth seriously. And unless one is a saint, it is difficult to live without taking earth seriously.”
-Jean Cocteau

“Opium teaches only one thing, which is that aside from physical sufffering, there is nothing real.”
-André Malraux

“Among the remedies which it has pleased Almighty God to give to man to relieve his sufferings, none is so universal and so efficacious as opium.”
-Thomas Sydenham

“Our current drug crisis is a tragedy born of a phony system of classification. For reasons that are little more than accidents of history, we have divided a group of nonfood substances into two categories: items purchasable for supposed pleasure (such as alcohol), and illicit drugs. The categories were once reversed. Opiates were legal in America before the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914, and members of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, who campaigned against alcohol during the day, drank their valued “women’s tonics” at night, products laced with laudanum (tincture of opium).

I could abide—though I would still oppose—our current intransigence if we applied the principle of total interdiction to all harmful drugs. But how can we possibly defend our current policy based on a dichotomy that encourages us to view one class of substances as a preeminent scourge while the two most dangerous and life-destroying substances by far, alcohol and tobacco, form a second class advertised in neon on every street corner of urban America? And why, moreover, should heroin be viewed with horror while chemical cognates that are no different from heroin than lemonade is from iced tea perform work of enormous compassion by relieving the pain of terminal cancer patients in their last days?”
-Stephen J. Gould, evolutionary biologist (Taxonomy as Politics, Dissent, Winter 1990, p.73

Actors, Actresses, Models, and Directors

• Bridgette Andersen, 1980s/90s child actress (deceased) [1][2]
• John Belushi, actor and comedian (deceased) [3]
• Gia Carangi, fashion model (deceased) [4]
• Montgomery Clift, actor (deceased); Montgomery Clift: A Biography ISBN 0-7864-1432-4
• Robert Downey Jr., actor [5]
• Jeanne Eagels, silent film actress (deceased) [6][7]
• Chris Farley, actor and comedian (deceased) [8]
• Mike Hammett, 1960s-70s child actor, “Another World” [9]
• Artie Lange, actor, radio personality
• Béla Lugosi, actor (deceased) [10]
• Natasha Lyonne, actress [11]
• Jason Mewes, actor [12]
• Robert Pastorelli, actor (deceased) [13]
• Matthew Perry, actor [14]
• Dana Plato, actress (deceased) [15]
• River Phoenix, actor (deceased) [16]
• Glenn Quinn, actor (deceased) [17]
• Wallace Reid, silent film actor (deceased) [18]
• Alma Rubens, silent film actress (deceased) [19]
• Christian Slater, actor [20]

Writers, Poets, and Journalists

• Charles Baudelaire, poet/writer of “Les Fleurs du mal” among many other works (deceased) [21]
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet (deceased) [22]
• William S. Burroughs, writer of “Naked Lunch” among many other works; drug culture and early cyberculture icon (deceased) [23]
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet/writer of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” among others (deceased) [24]
• Sigmund Freud, pioneer of psychology, wrote The Cocaine Papers during his cocaine experimentation. (deceased)
• Lucy Grealy, poet/writer of “Autobiography of a Face” (deceased) [25]
• Aldous Huxley, writer of “Brave New World,” “The Doors of Perception,” and others (deceased) [26]
• Denis Johnson, writer of the series of short stories “Jesus’ Son” among many other works of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. [27]
• Anna Kavan, A writer who named herself after a character in one of her books.(died of natural causes at 67)[28]
• Patrick K. Kroupa, writer and hacker [29]
• Rush Limbaugh, American radio talk show host.
• Thomas de Quincey, writer of “Confessions of an English Opium Eater” (deceased) [30]
• Hubert Selby Jr., writer of “Requiem for a Dream” among others (deceased) [31]
• Will Self, writer, journalist, broadcaster [32]

Singers & Musicians

• Steven Adler, former Guns N’ Roses drummer (near-fatal overdose) [33]
• GG Allin, punk rock singer (deceased) [34]
• Duane Allman, founding member of The Allman Brothers Band and member of Derek and the Dominoes (deceased)
• Gregg Allman, founding member of and lead singer for The Allman Brothers Band [35]
• Brett Anderson, Suede/Tears frontman [36]
• Chet Baker, Jazz trumpeter whose addiction is discussed at length in the biography Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker.[37][38]
• Ginger Baker, drummer for Cream and Blind Faith [39]
• Tommy Bolin, guitarist for Deep Purple (deceased) [40]
• David Bowie, actor and singer [41]
• Ray Charles, so stated in his autobiography Brother Ray: Ray Charles’ Own Story ISBN 0-306-81335-1 (deceased)
• Jimmy Chamberlin, Smashing Pumpkins/Zwan drummer [42]
• Eric Clapton, guitarist and prominent rock-and-roll figure since the mid-1960s [43]
• Kurt Cobain, Nirvana frontman (deceased) [44]
• Brian Cole, bassist and vocalist for The Association (deceased) [45]
• Natalie Cole, singer, according to VH1 Behind The Music
• Darby Crash, founding member of The Germs (deceased) [46]
• David Crosby, founding member of Crosby, Stills, and Nash/Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young [47]
• Robbin Crosby, Ratt lead guitarist (deceased) [48]
• Miles Davis, jazz trumpeter and bandleader (deceased) [49]
• Pete Doherty, frontman of the bands The Libertines and Babyshambles [50]
• Steve Earle, country-western singer and guitarist [51]
• Howie Epstein, bassist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (deceased) [52]
• Pete Farndon, Pretenders bassist (deceased) [53]
• John Frusciante, former and current Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist; also has a side solo career [54]
• Dave Gahan, frontman for Depeche Mode (near-fatal overdose)[55]
• Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead frontman and guitarist (deceased)[56]
• Leif Garrett, child actor and pop musician popular in the mid-1970s [57]
• Boy George (born George Alan O’Dowd), former Culture Club frontman [58]
• Keith Godchaux, keyboardist for The Grateful Dead (deceased)
• Carlos Gomes, Brazilian romantic composer (deceased) [59]
• Brett Gurewitz, Bad Religion guitarist and founder of Epitaph Records
• Hampton Hawes, jazz pianist who self-described as such, after cleaning up, in his autobiography.[60]
• Billie Holiday, jazz singer (deceased) [61]
• Shannon Hoon, Blind Melon frontman (deceased) [62]
• Janis Joplin, singer (deceased) [63]
• Alain Jourgensen, Ministry/Revolting Cocks frontman and renowned addict to several different drugs [64]
• John Kahn, bass player, Jerry Garcia Band (deceased)
• Anthony Kiedis, Red Hot Chili Peppers vocalist [65]
• Mark Lanegan, Screaming Trees frontman [66]
• Tommy Lee, drummer for Mötley Crüe [67]
• Courtney Love, rock musician and actress, according to BBC’s 2006 documentary “The Return of Courtney Love”
• Frankie Lymon, The Teenagers frontman (deceased) [68]
• Phil Lynott, frontman for Thin Lizzy (deceased) [69]
• Jimmy McCulloch, Wings guitarist (deceased) [70]
• Vaughn Meader, bluegrass musician and comedian (deceased) [71]
• Dave Mustaine, Megadeth frontman [72]
• Brent Mydland, keyboardist for The Grateful Dead (deceased)
• Dave Navarro, guitarist for Jane’s Addiction and later the Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Fats Navarro, jazz trumpeter.[73]
• Chuck Negron, Three Dog Night frontman, battled addiction to heroin for over 30 years [74]
• Fred Neil, famed blues/jazzman (deceased) [75]
• Nico, 1960s-70s singer with several bands, most remembered for her work with The Velvet Underground (deceased) [76]
• Bradley Nowell, Sublime frontman (deceased) [77]
• Anita O’Day, jazz singer [78]
• Jimmy Page, lead guitarist for Led Zeppelin and later for Page and Plant [79]
• Charlie Parker, jazz saxophonist (deceased) [80][81]
• Art Pepper, jazz musician (deceased)
• Joe Perry, lead guitarist for Aerosmith [82]
• John Phillips, The Mamas & The Papas frontman (deceased) [83]
• Iggy Pop, Iggy and the Stooges frontman; also had a successful solo career, and is considered by many to be the prototypical punk rocker [84]
• Elvis Presley, singer and guitarist, addicted to Dilaudid during his later years (deceased) [85]
• Dee Dee Ramone (born Douglas Glen Colvin), Ramones bassist (deceased) [86]
• Lou Reed, frontman and guitarist for The Velvet Underground, later a successful solo artist [87]
• Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails frontman/conceptualizer [88]
• Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones lead guitarist, renowned multi-addict [89]
• Axl Rose, Guns N’ Roses frontman [90]
• Andy Rourke, The Smiths bassist, fired briefly due to addiction [91]
• Judee Sill, addicted to heroin before her career, but died of a cocaine overdose.[92]
• Nikki Sixx, Mötley Crüe bassist (near-fatal overdose) [93]
• Slash, former Guns N’ Roses/Slash’s Snakepit/Velvet Revolver guitarist [94]
• Hillel Slovak, Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist (deceased) [95]
• Layne Staley, Alice In Chains frontman (deceased) [96]
• James Taylor, vocalist and guitarist [97]
• Pete Townshend, frontman and guitarist for The Who [98]
• Steven Tyler, lead singer for Aerosmith [99]
• Sid Vicious, bassist for The Sex Pistols (deceased) [100]
• Charlie Watts, Rolling Stones drummer, for a brief period in the 1980s [101]
• Scott Weiland, Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman [102]
• Danny Whitten, rock musician from Crazy Horse (deceased) [103]
• Al Wilson, vocalist for Canned Heat [104]
• Johnny Winter, blues musician [105]
• Andrew Wood, Mother Love Bone frontman (deceased) [106]

Other Celebrities & Public Figures

• Lenny Bruce, comedian (deceased) [107]
• George Carlin, comedian [108]
• Pamela Courson, common-law wife of Jim Morrison (deceased) [109]
• Aleister Crowley, occultist and adventurer (deceased) [110]
  • Wrote The Fountain of Hyacinth as a diary documenting his hard-drug addiction [111]
• Brett Favre, American football quarterback, addicted to pain killers [112]
• William Halsted, known as the “father of modern surgery”; associated with Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland (deceased) [113]
• Domino Harvey, fashion model-turned-bounty hunter (deceased) [114]
• Howard Hughes , aviator, film producer/director, multi-business tycoon, billionaire (deceased) [115]
• Robert Kennedy, Jr., lawyer, son of Robert F. Kennedy [116]
• SaRenna Lee, porn star and big bust model [117]
• Dr. John S. Pemberton, chemist, inventor of Coca-Cola (deceased) [118]
• Edie Sedgwick, socialite friend of Andy Warhol (deceased) [119]
• Nancy Spungen, prostitute/groupie, girlfriend of The Sex Pistols‘ Sid Vicious (deceased) [120]
• Brandon Novak, skateboarder/signed by Tony Hawk, close friend of Bam Margera, tv star, radio personality

Politicians

• Hermann Göring pilot and German politician, member of the National Socialist German Workers Party (deceased) [1]

References and Footnotes

1. Maser, Werner Hermann Göring. Hitlers janusköpfiger Paladin. Die politische Biographie (German language)

• Will Self, author of (among others) The Sweet Smell of Psychosis (1999, ISBN 0-8021-3647-8) and Feeding Frenzy (2002, ISBN 0-14-029055-9), both of which address opiate addiction in elegant detail.

Note: The links below lead to a location where the particular CD that song is on can be purchased. Also, if there is a song which is not listed here, please feel free to comment using the form at the bottom of this page, and we would be happy to list it. Thank you!

0-9
“2×4″ — Blind Melon

A
“A Deeper Kind of Slumber” — Tiamat
“A Horse With No Name” — America
“Addicted to Chaos” — Megadeth
“The Addiction” — Frank DeBlasi
“Adios” — Rammstein (about a death from overdose)
“Again” — Alice in Chains
“Amy Hit The Atmosphere” — Counting Crows (recovering from heroin addiction)
“And So I Know” — Stone Temple Pilots (recovering from heroin addiction)
“Aneurysm” — Nirvana
“Angel” — Sarah McLachlan
“Angry Chair” — Alice in Chains
“Another Girl, Another Planet” — The Only Ones
“Arbor Vitate” — Pig
“Arbor Vitate” — Schaft
“Arbor Vitate” — Watts

B
“Bad” — U2
“Bad Obsession” — Guns N’ Roses
“Ballad Of Big Nothing” — Elliott Smith
“Baltimore Love Thing” — 50 Cent
“The Beast” — The Only Ones
“Been on a Train” — Laura Nyro
“Beetlebum” — Blur
“The Bewlay Brothers” — David Bowie
“Billy” — Bad Religion
“Black Balloon” — Goo Goo Dolls
“Blank” — Failure
“Blue Veins” — The Raconteurs
“Bodhisattva” — Steely Dan
“Braindead” — Red Red Meat
“Brown Sugar” — The Rolling Stones
“Brown Sugar” — ZZ Top
“Burning Red, The” — Machine Head

C
“California, Gracefully” — Every Time I Die
“Call The Doctor” — Spacemen 3
“Can’t Cry Anymore” — Sheryl Crow
“Captain Jack” — Billy Joel
“Carmelita” — Warren Zevon, later covered by Linda Ronstadt
“Chase The Dragon” — The Beasts of Bourbon
“Chasin’ the Dragon” — D. Goodacre
“China Girl” — David Bowie/Iggy Pop
“Chinese Rocks” — The Heartbreakers (recorded as “Chinese Rock” — The Ramones)
“Coconut Grove” — Paul K and the Weathermen
“Comfortably Numb” — Pink Floyd[1], later covered by Dar Williams and the Scissor Sisters
“Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire” — Joni Mitchell
“Cold Turkey” — John Lennon
“Cop Shoot Cop” — Spiritualized
“Cotton Fields” — The Pogues

D
“Dancing On Glass” — Mötley Crüe
“Days Turn Blue to Gray” — Machine Head
“Dead Flowers” — The Rolling Stones
“Dead Horse” — Guns N’ Roses
“Dead Men Tell No Tales” — Motörhead
“Deltoya” — Extremoduro
“Diamonds and Guns” — The Transplants
“Dirt” — Alice in Chains
“Dirty Blue Balloons” — Failure
“Doctor Wu” — Steely Dan
“Don’t Bring Harry” — The Stranglers
“Don’t Mess With Doctor Dream” — the Thompson Twins
“Down in a Hole” — Alice in Chains
“Dreidel” – Don McLean
“Drug Buddy” — The Lemonheads

E
“Empty Friend” — Failure
“Even Flow” — Pearl Jam

F
“Fairytale Of New York” – The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl
“Fall to Pieces” — Velvet Revolver
“Feel Good Hit Of The Summer” — Queens Of The Stone Age
“Fire And Rain” — James Taylor
“Fixxxer” — Metallica
“Free Fix for a Fuck” – The Mentors

G
“Gimme Heroin” — Morning Glory
“Givin’ Up” — The Darkness
“God Smack” — Alice in Chains
“Golden Brown” — The Stranglers
“Good God” — Ko?n

H
“H.” — Tool
“H-Eyes” — The Ruts
“Habit” — Pearl Jam
“Hand of Doom” — Black Sabbath
“Happiness Is a Warm Gun” — The Beatles
“Harvester of Sorrow” — Metallica
“Hateful” — The Clash
“Hate to Feel” — Alice in Chains
“He Knows You Know” — Marillion
“Heroin” — The Velvet Underground
“Heroin” — John Frusciante
“Heroin” — New Model Army
“Heroin” — Doors, The
“Heroine” — Suede
“Heroin Dreams” — Life of Agony
“Heroin Face” — The Cure
“Heroin Girl” — Everclear
“Heroin, She Said” — Wolfsheim
“Heroin or Suicide” — Leftöver Crack
“Heroin vs. Prozac” — The Brian Jonestown Massacre
“Heroin vs. Prozac, Revisited” — The Brian Jonestown Massacre
“Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” — Neil Young
“Home Is Where The Hatred Is” — Gil Scott-Heron
“Horrorshow” — The Libertines
“Hot Hole” — PIG
“Heroine” — From First to Last

I
“I Believe In You” — Talk Talk
“I Know Somethin’ (‘Bout You)” — Alice in Chains
“I’m Your Captain” — Grand Funk Railroad
“I’m Waiting for the Man” — Velvet Underground
“Instant Hit” — The Slits
“Its Been A While — Staind

J
“Jane Says” — Jane’s Addiction
“Jones Comin’ Down” — The Last Poets
“Judy Staring at the Sun” – Catherine Wheel
“Junkhead” — Alice In Chains
“Junkie” — Dead Milkmen
“Junkie” — Ozzy Osbourne
“Junkie” — The Peelers
“Junkie Man” — Tim Armstrong
“Junkie Nurse” — Royal Trux
“Junkie Slip” — The Clash
“Junkie’s Promise” — Sonic Youth
“Junky” — Pig
“Just One Fix” — Ministry
“Just Go” — Staind
“Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” — Bob Dylan

K
“Kickstart My Heart” — Mötley Crüe
“King Heroin” — James Brown
“Kings Crossing” — Elliott Smith
“Kiss Me Deadly” — Generation X
“Knife Prty” — Deftones

L
“Let It Flow” — Spiritualized
“Learn from this Mistake” — Down
“Longview” – Green Day
“Love In Vein” — Skinny Puppy
“Low” — Cracker
“Ljubav kao heroin” (Love Like Heroin) — Laufer (Croatia)
“Luck’s Up” — Public Image Ltd.
“Lust for Life” — Iggy Pop

M
“Maggot Brain” – Funkadelic
“Mainliner” — Social Distortion
“The Mango Song” — Phish
“Medication” — Spiritualized
“Missing You” — Duff McKagan
“Mojo”- Peeping Tom feat. Rahzel and Dan the Automator
“Mojo Pin” — Jeff Buckley
“Monkey Man” — Rolling Stones
“Mountain Song” — Jane’s Addiction
“Mr. Brownstone” — Guns N’ Roses
“Mr. Self-Destruct” – Nine Inch Nails
“Master of Puppets” — Metallica
“Mutiny in Heaven” — The Birthday Party
“My Sweet Prince” — Placebo

N
“Naked in the Rain” — Red Hot Chili Peppers
“The Needle and the Damage Done” — Neil Young
“The Needle and the Spoon” — Lynyrd Skynyrd
“Needle In The Hay” — Elliott Smith
“The Needle Lies” — Queensrÿche
“Needles” – System Of A Down
“New Youth Crimson” — Pier Nine Brawl
“Nice Boys” — Rose Tattoo
“Not an Addict” — K’s Choice
“Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth” — The Dandy Warhols
“Nothin’ Matters but the Fever” — Sea Level
“Numb” — U2
“Nurture my Pig” — Reverend Horton Heat

O
“Ocean Pie — Shed Seven
“OD Catastrophe” — Spacemen 3
“Ode To Street Hassle” — Spacemen 3
“Old Fashion Morphine” — Jolie Holland
“Old Hat” — Izzy Stradlin (Cocaine, heroin)
“One Fix” — Dope
“One Track Mind” — The Heartbreakers
“One Way Ticket to Hell” — The Darkness
“Only Human” — 40 Grit
“Opium of the People” — Slipknot
“Otherside” — Red Hot Chili Peppers
“O.D.” – Last Poets
“Oxy Cotton” — Lil Wyte (OxyContin/oxycodone, Lortab)

P
“Paranoid Opioid” — Corrosion of Conformity
“Parker’s Band” — Steely Dan
“Passenger” — Grateful Dead
“Pink Turns To Blue” — Hüsker Dü (OD, heroin)
“Perfect Day” — Lou Reed
“Poison Was the Cure” — Megadeth
“Poison Oak” — Bright Eyes
“Pool Shark” — Sublime
“Poppies” — Marcy Playground
“Poverty Train” — Laura Nyro
“Pretty On The Inside” – Hole
“Purple Pills” — D12
“Post Blue” — Placebo

R
“Real Thing” — Alice In Chains
“Redneck Rampage” — Jello Biafra and Mojo Nixon
“Rhyme and Reason” — Dave Matthews Band
“Run Run Run” — the Velvet Underground
“Running To Stand Still” — U2

S
“Save Me” — Shinedown
“Sam Stone” — John Prine
“Same In The End” — Sublime
“Self Destruct” — Staind
“Serial Killer” — Valete
“She’s Like Heroin” — System of a Down
“She’s Like Heroin to Me” — The Gun Club
“She Talks to Angels” — the Black Crowes
“Shedding Skin” — Pantera
“Shooting up in Vain” — Eagle Eye Cherry
“Sickman” — Alice in Chains
“Signed D.C.” — Love
“Simoriah” — Aerosmith
“Sister Midnight” — Iggy Pop
“Sister Morphine” — The Rolling Stones
“Sister Ray” — The Velvet Underground
“Sledgehammer” — Peter Gabriel
“Slither” — Velvet Revolver
“Slow Motion” — Third Eye Blind
“Smack Jack” — Nina Hagen
“Smack My Bitch Up” — The Prodigy
“Soul Auctioneer” — Death In Vegas
“Soul to Squeeze” — Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Some Candy Talking” — The Jesus and Mary Chain
“Space Oddity” — David Bowie
“Spoonful” – Cream – Written by Willie Dixon
“Sue” — Brian Jonestown Massacre
“Suicide Messiah” — Black Label Society
“Sunday’s Slave” — Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
“Surfin’ on Heroin” — Forgotten Rebels

T
“Tension Head” — Queens of the Stone Age
“That Ol’ White Line” — Motorpsycho
“The Destruction of a Person” — Superjoint Ritual
“The Dope Feels Good” — The Warlocks
“The Saga” — The Libertines
“There She Goes” — The La’s
“These Blues” — Spiritualized
“Things’ll Never Be The Same” — Spacemen 3
“This is the Place” — Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Through With Buzz” — Steely Dan
“Tom Violence” — Sonic Youth
“Tombstone Blues” — Bob Dylan
“Tonight’s the Night” — Neil Young
“Too High Too Fly” — Dokken
“Too Much Junkie Business” — The Heartbreakers
“Too Much of Nothing” — Bob Dylan, covered by Peter, Paul, & Mary
“Tragick Magick” — Dr. John with Hank Crawford

U
“Under the Bridge” — Red Hot Chili Peppers
“USA” — The Pogues
“Use the Man” — Megadeth

V
“Voodoo” — Godsmack

W
“Waitin For My Man” — The Velevet Underground (buying heroin)
“Walking With Jesus” — Spacemen 3
“Wasted Time” — Skid Row
“We’ll Have a Riot Doing Heroin” — The Queers
“White Horse” — Laid Back (also as “Don’t Ride the White Horse”)
“White Punks on Dope” — The Tubes
“White Trash” — Southern Culture on the Skids
“Wild Horses” — The Rolling Stones
“World’s On Heroin” — ALL
“Would?” — Alice in Chains

Y
“Your Own Backyard” — Dion
“You Were On My Mind” — We Five

Requiem for a Dream

Trainspotting – Renton is part of the Edinburgh drug scene. He lives the horrors of a bad heroin. The director did not hide any portion of the story: dirty toilets, dirty/bloody needles, constant fear of transmitted diseases (including AIDs), a dead baby, and severe hallucinations. The acting is great, but the movie is a bit hard to watch due to its graphic nature. Based on the novel by Irvine Welsh.