# drug ?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug/5596
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 24, 1999, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug/5596 "1999-12-24T05:01:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@chief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chief)
#### Post date: [December 24, 1999, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug/5596/1 "1999-12-24T05:01:00Z")
ive heard this a few times but i have no idea what it is:
“crank”
can someone please explain? thanks!
* * *
Chief’s Domain - [http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~ravi](http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~ravi)
---
### Author:  [@Commander\_Fortune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Fortune)
#### Post date: [December 24, 1999, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug/5596/2 "1999-12-24T05:14:00Z")
low quality or cut methamphetamine.
---
### Author:  [@Llardball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llardball)
#### Post date: [December 24, 1999, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug/5596/3 "1999-12-24T05:35:00Z")
Commander Fortune, a little quick on the response there don’t you think? Eh? I am getting a bit concerned about you. 😉
* * *
I realize I’m generalizing here, but as in most cases, I don’t care.
-Dave Barry
---
### Author:  [@Llardball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llardball)
#### Post date: [December 24, 1999, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug/5596/4 "1999-12-24T05:36:00Z")
Commander Fortune, a little quick on the response there don’t you think? Eh? I am getting a bit concerned about you. 😉
* * *
I realize I’m generalizing here, but as in most cases, I don’t care.
-Dave Barry
---
### Author:  [@Llardball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llardball)
#### Post date: [December 24, 1999, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug/5596/5 "1999-12-24T05:36:00Z")
Commander Fortune, a little quick on the response there don’t you think? Eh? I am getting a bit concerned about you. 😉
* * *
I realize I’m generalizing here, but as in most cases, I don’t care.
-Dave Barry
---
### Author:  [@Llardball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llardball)
#### Post date: [December 24, 1999, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug/5596/6 "1999-12-24T05:37:00Z")
Crap. A little help Nickrz?
---
### Author:  [@Commander\_Fortune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Fortune)
#### Post date: [December 24, 1999, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug/5596/7 "1999-12-24T05:47:00Z")
Bwah ha ha ah ahaha aha ha
* * *
She wasn’t sure what to do, so she looked at how the government did things and decided to run her life that way.
---
### Author:  [@nighttime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nighttime)
#### Post date: [December 24, 1999, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug/5596/8 "1999-12-24T05:57:00Z")
As is commonly the case with street jargon, regional variations abound. At the point in my life when I was “on scene” so to speak, “crank” referred to the real stuff, amphetamine from moderate to extremely high quality, in contrast to the nasty stuff people cooked up from Vicks inhalers, etc.
---
### Author:  [@nighttime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nighttime)
#### Post date: [December 24, 1999, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug/5596/9 "1999-12-24T06:00:00Z")
You did not explain the context of the usage. “Crank” is also a slang term for penis.
---
### Author:  [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [December 25, 1999, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug/5596/10 "1999-12-25T00:06:00Z")
Crank=methamphetamine=very nasty drug, whether high or low quality stuff.
---
### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [December 25, 1999, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug/5596/11 "1999-12-25T00:36:00Z")
Crank has a lot of definitions:
1crank "krangk\ noun [ME cranke, fr. OE cranc- (as in crancstaef, a weaving instrument); prob. akin to MHG krank weak, sick — more at cringe] (13c)
1 : a bent part of an axle or shaft or an arm keyed at right angles to the end of a shaft by which circular motion is imparted to or received from the shaft or by which reciprocating motion is changed into circular motion or vice versa
2 a archaic : bend
b : a twist or turn of speech : conceit — used esp. in the phrase quips and cranks
c (1) : caprice, crotchet
(2) : an annoyingly eccentric person; also : one that is overly enthusiastic about a particular subject or activity
d : a bad-tempered person : grouch
3 : crystal 7
crank•ish "krang-kish\ adjective
©1996 Zane Publishing, Inc. and Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. All rights reserved.
---
### Author:  [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)
#### Post date: [December 25, 1999, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug/5596/12 "1999-12-25T00:49:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> You did not explain the context of the usage. “Crank” is also a slang term for penis.
Considering the title of the thread is “drug?” I think it is safe to assume they want the _drug_ usage of the term.
As has been said, it’s methamphetamine. When I was into that kind of thing, “crystal” was the good stuff, but generally you were stuck with crank.
* * *
–
Teeming Millions: [http://fathom.org/teemingmillions](http://fathom.org/teemingmillions)
“Meat flaps, yellow!” - DrainBead, naked co-ed Twister chat
O p a l C a t
[www.opalcat.com](http://www.opalcat.com)
---
### Author:  [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [December 27, 1999, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug/5596/13 "1999-12-27T09:54:00Z")
Crank as a slang term for (meth)amphetamine originated from the motorcycle gangs who, in the early days, did most of the distribution of the drug. They would hide the drug in their crank cases.
It kinda surprises me how popular meth is getting in some cities. This stuff will f— you up BIG time! I’ve never tried it and never will, but a friend of mine tried some really good meth once, snorting a tiny, tiny pinch. Imagine the tiniest pill you have ever seen in your entire life ground up into powder. Now take away about half that powder. That’s how much he took. He was awake for 72 hours, wanting to go to sleep more than anything in the world, and he just couldn’t.
Why someone would voluntarily subject themselves to this is beyond me…
---
### Author:  [@Ayesha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ayesha)
#### Post date: [December 28, 1999, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug/5596/14 "1999-12-28T06:44:00Z")
The stuff cooked up with inhalers is called stovetop, because you cook it on the stove top. It is nasty and very caustic, never try snorting the shit, one of the main ingrediants is Muratic (sp? ) acid.
It will eat holes in your nose, and if you shoot it, it will ruin the veins fast, if you miss , well hope you have good insurence.
* * *
Ayesha - Lioness
* * *
There are two solutions to every problem : the wrong one, and mine
(Thomas A. Edison)