So the Office of National Drug Control Policy has a web site listing the street names of various narcotics. It only takes a few seconds of casual reading to realize that police informants, if not the police themselves, are seriously jerking with the ONDCP.
2,300 street terms. That's probably 2,000 words more than the average person uses in a week, whether they're referring to drugs or not. With almost 1,000 terms devoted to marijuana ("righteous bush") and heroin ("hero of the underworld") alone, it can't be long before the expressions become meaningless. Even two of the original terms for pot - "grass" and "weed" - were everyday words. It seems completely nonsensical that various items found on someone's grocery list can be mistaken for "dope."
Imagine, if you will, this hypothetical wiretap transcript:
Whatcha watching?
"Predator."
That movie's the bomb.
Ah, I think it blows.
Whatever. Have you seen my Kate Bush CD? It was right here by my biography of LBJ.
I haven't seen it since the tea party.
Oh well, I'm gotta zoom to the store. Need anything?
Some tea, some macaroni, a box of crackers, dog food, mayo, and some nose drops for my ragweed.
That's whack.
Yeah. I'm gonna make a sandwich.
Harmless slackers? Or psychopathic drug fiends? You be the judge.
Dammit, I wish I had my copy of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" lying around. I immediately thought of the guy at the Convention on Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs yammering about how a marijuana cigarette is called a "roach" because it looks like a roach.
Oddly enough, I was reading your transcript while listening to "Roses", by Outkast, and it went along pretty well.