Drug and addiction experts are raising the alarm over a concoction of party drugs that One Course singer Liam Payne may have taken before his death.
ABC Information and other media have reported that partial autopsy and toxicology results showed that the pop star had “pink cocaine” in her system, along with other drugs, when she died after falling from a balcony of a lodge in Buenos Aires. last week.
Argentine prosecutors said Payne had consumed alcohol and drugs before dying from injuries caused by the fall, and that the lack of defensive injuries on his hands indicated he may have been unconscious or semi-conscious when it happened.
The final toxicology report is expected to take several weeks.
'You really don't know what's in it': researcher
Pink cocaine, also known as “tusi,” is an illicit drug mixture that typically contains ketamine and some combination of methamphetamine, MDMA, cocaine, opioids, or other psychoactive substances.
It sparked interest earlier this month after a civil lawsuit filed against Sean (Diddy) Combs claimed it was a drug of choice for the rapper, who faces sex trafficking charges and sexual abuse allegations.
Pink cocaine is usually sold in powder form, dyed pink with dye, and usually ingested by snorting. It typically contains little or no cocaine, which experts say increases its danger.
“I'm concerned about the misnomer,” said Joseph Palamar, an associate professor at New York University who researches party drugs and is the author of a 2023 research paper on pink cocaine. “I worry that people think pink cocaine is cocaine, but it's not. It is a pretty pink powder, a mysterious powder. “You really don't know what it contains.”
Originating in the festive scenes of Latin America, the brew has made its way to the United States and Canada in recent years.
The city of Sudbury, Ont., issued a warning in June about “an increase in the number of unexpected reactions” to pink cocaine use, while CBS reported earlier this month that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said the The drug was sold online and through social media apps and abused in New York City nightclubs.
Pink cocaine becomes “fashionable”
Palamar says pink cocaine is “going into fashion,” comparing it to the popularity of MDMA, or “molly,” in the 2000s. He attributes part of the drug's growing popularity to its pink appearance and cute names, saying that “tusi” (pronounced like “two Cs”) explicitly has an appeal comparable to “molly.”
“It's all about publicity,” he said.
That nickname comes from hallucinogenic drugs like 2C-I and 2C-B that were developed in the 1970s. Palamar says the name “tusi” may have initially been used to trick people into thinking the drug was related to class 2C drugs, although that reference would probably be lost on most young people who use recreational drugs today.
However, their investigation found that some samples of the drug contained DMT and other hallucinogenic substances.
One of Palamar's biggest concerns about people buying a mystery drug mix is that the fentanyl could end up in the powder, making it more deadly.
He also worries that when a user expects the purely stimulating effect of cocaine and instead ends up with the depressive effects of ketamine, they may end up in a dark place, especially if they seek out cocaine to balance out the effects of alcohol.
“If someone gives them pink cocaine, they are going to get sick,” he said. “They might end up vomiting. They will be even more drunk. They will probably fall into a dissociative state. It will be the opposite of consuming current cocaine.”
A drug cocktail can cause “very erratic behavior”
Michelle Arnot, a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Toronto, says that mixing different types of drugs (comparable to a “fastball,” which traditionally mixes cocaine and heroin) can amplify the potential for hallucinations and erratic behavior.
Arnot says that stimulants can increase brain chemicals responsible for the fight-or-flight response. This becomes especially dangerous when combined with ketamine, which can cause the user to dissociate, and hallucinogens, which increase sensory perception.
“You get this interaction of all the effects of these different drugs at the same time, which can then lead to very erratic behavior; “You may not even think that what you are seeing is actually happening to you, but it is happening to someone else.” — and then you go and do things that may not be safe or what you would normally do,” he said.
Another risk is that the stimulant effect may wear off before the depressant effects, Arnot says, leaving someone in a state of respiratory depression and a possible overdose later in their trip. She says it's important for anyone around these medications to always have naloxone equipment available, given the possibility of opioids being in the mix.
Arnot says the risks of using pink cocaine are typical of today's drug market, where uncertainty is a hallmark of everything sold on the street. Results from drug testing services in Canada show that even drugs sold as pure cocaine, for example, contain everything from caffeine to phenacetin, animal tranquilizers and dewormers, he said.
Nicholas Boyce, policy director for the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, which advocates for the legalization and regulation of illicit drugs, says the emergence of pink cocaine is part of an ongoing problem with an unregulated drug supply that only has become more toxic and dangerous in recent years. years.
Boyce and Arnot say it's important for anyone considering using pink cocaine to understand that they don't know what they're really being sold. If someone determines to use despite the dangers, both suggest using a drug testing service to determine what drugs are present, and only using it in a safe space, in the presence of someone who is not using at the same time.
“Every time we crack down on one thing, or a set of precursor drugs, new things come back,” Boyce said. “It is because we continue to attack supply and not demand.”
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