Everything you actually need to know about the party drug pink cocaine

The One Direction singer Liam Payne had pink cocaine in his system, as well as crack cocaine and benzodiazepine when he tragically died last week after falling from a hotel balcony. This is everything you need to be aware of about the new party drug pink cocaine.

Pink cocaine isn’t actually cocaine

The name is pretty misleading. Pink cocaine is actually a synthetic cocktail drug – meaning it’s not one substance, but is a mixture of lots of other drugs. The most commonly used ones are ketamine, MDMA (aka ecstasy), meth, LCD, opioids like fentanyl and a hallucinogenic drug called 2C-B. People rarely put actual cocaine in. It often has caffeine added to it. It’s dangerous to take, because you’ve got no way of knowing exactly what’s in it.

The drug is also known as tusi, tussi, tuci, tucibi, cocaina rosada, pantera rosa, Venus, Eros or pink powder. Pink cocaine is a relatively new party drug. People started selling it in Colombia in around 2018. It’s quickly become popular throughout Europe. It gets called “cocaine” because it’s a powder people snort, a bit like cocaine.

What happens to you when you take pink cocaine?

Despite the name, cocaine has very different effects to cocaine. Regular cocaine is a stimulant which wakes you up and can cause elevated euphoria or elevated anxiety. Pink cocaine is mostly made up of ketamine, which is more sedative, and makes you feel happier and less sensitive to pain. Ketamine and lots of the other substances in pink cocaine can cause hallucinations. Pink cocaine does not mix with alcohol well.

Because pink cocaine is a mixture of different drugs, people who use it rarely know everything that’s in it, so there’s a very high risk of overdosing or becoming addicted. It’s very likely to affect people differently each time depending on what’s in it. Taking it is always a gamble, which is why it’s become so popular at parties.

Why is pink cocaine even pink?

The pink colour probably comes from normal food dye. It’s just a marketing ploy to make the drug seem more party-ish.

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