garbage head

n. an abuser of illegal narcotics who will try anything in order to get high. Subjects: English, Drugs, Slang

Editorial Note: The 1961 Heinlein cite is probably a nonce usage of garbage head unrelated to the definition given here. The typographical errors in the 1973 citation are consistent with the original printed article.

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Citations: [1961 Robert A. Heinlein Stranger in a Strange Land p. 97 @ (Oct. 1, 1991): Berquist! That garbage head!] 1972 Jim Bishop News Journal (Mansfield,Ohio) (Oct. 25) “Be ‘Cool’ and Have Pals” p. 4: Soon, you become a garbage head; you take anything—downers, speed, LSD, mescaline—like, you know. 1973 Lisa Wohl @ New York City Washington Post (Jan. 7) “Good Head, No Habit” p. K17: The may be hard-core heroin addicts or “garbage heads,” youths who take anything to get high, including hashish, cocanine, LSD, heoin, amphetamines and bartituates. 1987 Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.) (Aug. 31) “Ex-Addicts Work the Streets for State” p. 27: Before entering treatment, Blade was a “garbage head” and needle freak. “I used everything. You name it, I used it,” he said. He fell in love with the needle. 2005 Howard Markel New York Times (Dec. 27) “When Teenagers Abuse Prescription Drugs, the Fault May Be the Doctor’s”: A voracious reader and a talented musician in her high school orchestra, Mary at 16 is also a “garbage head,” meaning that she will ingest anything she thinks will give her a high.

Posted 14 Apr 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

In my novel, titled Garbage Head, I use the phrase to mean

“A person who repeats (or in this case peats) the garbage on television and radio.”

It’s like ingesting anything, but from a mental/media perspective.

by Christopher Willard 21 Apr 06, 0215 GMT