By Kevin Shanks, D-ABFT-FT
“Pink cocaine” has been in the news recently due to the death of Liam Payne, one of the vocalists from the pop music group, One Direction. He died after falling from the balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
What exactly is “pink cocaine”?
It is literally just a bunch of drugs rolled into one powdery concoction and dyed the color pink. Drugs in “pink cocaine” may include ketamine, MDMA, methamphetamine, caffeine, or other novel psychoactive substances (NPS). And even though the name suggests it, “pink cocaine” most likely does not contain cocaine. Because of the lack of uniformity in illicit drugs, “pink cocaine” may differ in its makeup over time, from batch to batch. The mixture also goes by the name “tusi”, which may lead some people to believe that it may contain substituted/psychedelic phenethylamines such as 2C-B or 2C-I (which were originally synthesized by neuropharmacologist Alexander Shulgin), even though this has not been a reported as a regular constituent of the drug. According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), since 2020, they have seized a total of 960 pink powders. Four exhibits contained 2C-B and the other 956 contained other substances. And even though 2C-B has been detected in a few “pink cocaine”-related powders, Shulgin did not invent “pink cocaine” which has been previously erroneously reported by various media and news agencies.
Photograph of Pink Cocaine. DEA. https://www.dea.gov/pink-cocaine
The effects of “pink cocaine” are unpredictable due to the unknown nature of what specific substances are making up the concoction at the time of use. If it contains a dissociative anesthetic such as ketamine, the pharmacological effects may include sedation, dissociation, hallucinations, and delusions. If it contains a stimulant such as methamphetamine or MDMA, the effects may include tachycardia, hypertension, hyperthermia, and agitation. But again, the observed effects will be completely dependent on what specific substances are actually in the “pink cocaine” product.
Why is it dyed the color pink?
Most likely, the answer is to make it more memorable. Drug products are often dyed different colors to bring attention to them or to act as a branding mechanism. Bright colors are visually appealing and are often seen in the manufacturing of Ecstasy tablets. Brightly colored tablets of fentanyl, also known as rainbow fentanyl, were also a thing reported in the media a couple of years ago.
Liam Payne’s death was originally reported as being “pink cocaine”-related, but in November, officials in Argentina reported that the postmortem toxicology showed “traces of alcohol, cocaine, and a prescribed antidepressant”. He had used real cocaine, not “pink cocaine”.
In an unrelated story, “pink cocaine” has also been associated with the sexual assault and trafficking lawsuits involving rapper, record producer, and studio executive Sean “Diddy” Combs. Parts of the lawsuits claim that Diddy required employees to carry around “pink cocaine”, as well as other drugs, at all times for personal use.
Axis monitors for the compounds found in “pink cocaine”, as part of our Comprehensive Panel (order code 70510) with Analyte Assurance™. Screening is completed by liquid chromatography with quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (LC-QToF/MS) and confirmatory analyses are completed using liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).
As always, if you have questions about “pink cocaine” or any other classical drug or NPS and how they may play a role in your medical-legal investigation, please reach out to our subject matter experts by email ([email protected]) or phone (317-759-4869, Option 3).
References
Liam Payne reportedly had ‘pink cocaine’ in his system when he died. NBC News. Hannah Peart. October 22, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/liam-payne-death-one-direction-pink-cocaine-toxicology-report-rcna176532
Tusi: a new ketamine concoction complicating the drug landscape. J.J. Palamar. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. September 2023. DOI: 10.1080/00952990.2023.2207716.
Pink Cocaine. United States Drug Enforcement Administration. https://www.dea.gov/pink-cocaine
Argentine prosecutors charge 3 people linked to the death of former One Direction star Liam Payne. AP News. Almudena Calatrava. November 8, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/argentina-payne-death-charged-e73f589a37a4a8f0e80e0b0e71d0f0f4
Diddy allegedly forced employees to carry pink cocaine at all times. VICE. Sammi Caramela. October 24, 2024. https://www.vice.com/en/article/diddy-pink-cocaine/