If you hear so much about pink cocaine, it’s because it has gained some notoriety since the tragic death of Liam Payne, former One Direction singer, on October 16, 2024.
Although his death remained unexplained for the first few days, numerous media outlets later reported that pink cocaine was in his body at the time of his fatal fall from the second floor of a hotel. An article from the Guardian lists four things to know about this cocktail of drugs.
1. What is pink cocaine?
It is a mixture of drugs which, contrary to its name, generally does not contain cocaine. This mixture, which owes its color to the addition of food coloring and sometimes even strawberry flavoring, contains at least one stimulant and a substance that slows down the activity of the nervous system.
The drugs most commonly found in this cocktail are methamphetamine, ketamine, and MDMA (ecstasy). There are also benzodiazepines (which are used to relieve anxiety as part of medical treatment), crack and caffeine. Pink cocaine is usually swallowed as a pill or snorted as a powder.
2. What are its effects?
Users of pink cocaine enter a state of euphoria, their sensory perception is heightened, and they experience mood swings. According to the UK Addiction Treatment Centers, it can also cause hallucinations: “Pink cocaine has hallucinogenic properties, unlike the purely stimulant effects of traditional cocaine. (…) CCompared to other stimulants like methamphetamine, or designer drugs like ecstasy, pink cocaine offers a unique combination of stimulant and hallucinogenic effects.
The organization specifies that long-term use of the drug can cause heart attacks and high blood pressure, increase the risk of stroke, anxiety and depression, and that it leads to strong dependence.
3. Where does it come from?
This drug first appeared in Colombia, around 2010. Since then, its consumption has spread to clubs in Latin America, notably in Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay, Chile and Panama. , according to Vice.
She also gained popularity in clubs across the United States and Europe, particularly in Spain. According to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime released in 2022, pink cocaine has already been found in the United Kingdom, Austria, Switzerland, Canada and Southeast Asia. It is now spreading all over the world.
4. What are its different names?
To make it go unnoticed, pink cocaine has several other names. There is “Tusi”, “cocaina rosada”, “pink C”, “tusibi”, “pink powder”, “Eros” and even “Venus”. Many of these nicknames are inspired by 2C-B, a psychedelic hallucinogenic drug synthesized in 1974 by Alexander Shulgin, a chemist nicknamed “godfather of ecstasy” for having worked on this substance. However, according to the authorities, 2C-B is only rarely present in the pink cocktail.
Source: www.slate.fr
