crank bugs

crank bugs

What one is said to feel crawling on or under the skin during a drug-induced hallucination. ("Crank" is a slang name for methamphetamine.) I would guess that crank bugs are the reason his arms are all scratched up.
See also: bug, crank
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

crank bugs

n. a drug-induced hallucination that insects are crawling under one’s skin. (Drugs.) There’s no such thing as crank bugs, so stop scratching them.
See also: bug, crank
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • come down hard
  • on a trip
  • good trip
  • a good trip
  • high
  • high, wide, and handsome
  • wear (one's) apron high
  • glow
  • a glow
  • crank out
References in periodicals archive
With some it comes about with the appearance of "crank bugs," imaginary bugs under the skin.
The world of the Haight-Ashbury speed freak
(15) The user often feels as if bugs are crawling under his skin, and this feeling, known as formication, causes the user to pick out skin until sores and cuts, known as "crank bugs," arise.
Methamphetamine: the physical effects
Many users endure a hallucination known as 'crank bugs', in which they become convinced that insects have burrowed deep underneath their skin.
NAZI DRUG MAKES ECSTASY LOOK LIKE ASPIRIN; Non-stop party pill set to flood Britain
It's a hallucinatory drug which often leads users to think they have imaginary "crank bugs" under their skin - and they claw at themselves to get rid of the "insects".
She said her knee joints cracked when she walked and she had "crank bugs".
HER family said her teeth rotted and her body was covered with sores from trying to get at the crank bugs.
Is this the most evil drug ever?; Army called in as `Nazi Crank' epidemic sweeps U.S