Whizz is another name for the drug amphetamine sulphate. To my knowledge the word is only used in this context in Britain. This is most likely due to the apparent origin of the word.

It seems that the British rave and drug cultures seem to borrow quite often from childhood icons, perhaps in an attempt to connect to the sense of playfulness and fun-loving that such images carry for people in their teens and early twenties. The word whizz is a prime example of this, as it is taken from the name of a character, Billy Whizz, in the children's comic The Beano. Amphetamine is also known as Billy here in the UK.

The comic-book character had the special ability of being able to run incredibly fast over great distances without tiring. If you've ever tried amphetamines you'll probably see how the name ties in. The comic-book character never suffered from spinal problems, addiction, uncontrolled weight loss or liver damage, so the similarity ends there I'm afraid.

Personally, I quite like the idea of calling amphetamine whizz, but I can't say I'm a big fan of the narc itself. I'm already arrogant and opinionated enough thanks.


A little bit about amphetamines relevant to Britain, but not the US, since Britain is where this WU applies to:

  • It comes as a white powder
  • Ingestion is usually by snorting or swallowing (usually wrapped in a Rizla as the taste is grim)
  • Normal purity is around 5 percent
  • Base is more pure at around 25 to 30 percent
  • Dosage is usually in multiples of 0.5g (cut weight) and is heavily dependant upon tolerance

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