Cocaine is a stimulant and ketamine is a sedative-hallucinogenic anesthetic. Authorities in New York City report that lab-tested samples have very little or no cocaine. Recreational use of tusi expanded enormously in tourist areas such as Valencia, Marbella or Ibiza. The popularity of tusi in Spain began during the nighttime parties that resumed after the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain.
Though the name “tusi” is phonetically similar to “2C”, tusi is not the same psychoactive substance as 2C-B or more broadly, the 2C family. In a recent BBC documentary focusing on the party scene in Ibiza, they highlight the fact that drug dealers will contact those using hashtags on Instagram. With the rise of social media Pink Cocaine has been easy for people to get their hands on. Pink cocaine has been typically found in urban areas with an active nightclub scene like Miami, New York, and Los Angeles. To put that into perspective, within that same time, DEA has seized 180 million fentanyl pills. However, its real impact includes exacerbated health disparities and increased burdens on public health systems.
It has a striking pink color that comes from food coloring, rather than any unique drug component. Pure cocaine is a stimulant drug made from the coca plant. Pink cocaine is an illegal substance. They can refer you to a mental health professional who can help address your substance use disorder. NPS are a new kind of synthetic drug. But despite the name, this drug isn’t just colorful cocaine.
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Due to the limited availability of 2C-B, traffickers began adulterating it with caffeine, MDMA, and ketamine. Tusi was introduced to Colombia by upper-class young people from Medellín who brought it from Europe.
Law enforcement raises warning over so-called pink cocaine
Instead, the primary component in pink cocaine is ketamine, a tranquilizer known for its potentially severe physical and mental health risks. Call 911 or ask someone to get medical help right away if you see signs of an overdose from pink cocaine (or other drugs). While pink cocaine usually has multiple substances in it, certain tests may tell you a little more about your batch.
- According to a UN drugs report on the rise of the illegal ketamine trade published this week, this year tusi has been spotted at a music festival in the UK, and also in Austria and Switzerland.
- In October 2014, a struggle for control over tusi sales in Cali led to an internal purge in the Urabeños crime group that murdered eight people.
- The original 2C-B drug shares the same name with Tucibi but is completely different.
- Tusi samples tested by Échele Cabeza highlighted the mixture mainly consisted of MDMA and ketamine, but also methyl salicylate (a numbing compound) and amphetamines.
What is Pink Cocaine, or Tusi, the Dangerous Party Drug
- Users might feel an overwhelming urge to keep using tuci for its euphoric effects due to its MDMA content, spiked with speed, which puts the user on alert at the same time.
- Since then forensic tests have shown the drug has morphed into an unpredictable mix, most often containing varying proportions of ketamine and MDMA, bulked out with caffeine.
- People using may think the drug is 2C/2C-B, and they may also be unaware that the concoction tends to consist of ketamine and a wide variety of other drugs.
- In fact, it may not have any cocaine at all.
The drug has been identified sporadically in Spain since 2011, and one of the first major busts was in 2016, when nine people including some Colombians were arrested for operating a tusi lab just outside Madrid. A search of their homes in Spain revealed 8 kilos of what officers called “pink cocaine,” as well as regular cocaine and cash. Last week, Spanish police announced they had busted seven members of a gang who are alleged to have been involved with distributing cocaine and tusi in Madrid and Malaga after smuggling it in drug-filled suitcases by air from Latin America. The product, made by suppliers in local DIY kitchen labs, varies with each “cook”, and has been found to contain a variety of other drugs, such as benzos, meth and cathinones, although rumours it has been found to contain fentanyl are unproven.
Today, young people may not know the history of the name tusi and they may be confused by the name pink cocaine, he said. Those with limited experience in acquiring street drugs could create pink cocaine from readily available products. Tusi lavada denotes a particular type or variation of the drug known popularly as tusi, which is a slang term for pink cocaine. Pink powder drug called as pink cocaine does not contain any cocaine. While pink cocaine and traditional cocaine share the risk of addiction and chemical dependency, they differ substantially in their origins and effects.
Due to it’s composition and being a custom mixed drug, the effects are unpredictable and can vary significantly. Over time, users can build a tolerance, needing more of the drug to get the same high, which escalates the addiction risk. As with many synthetic drugs, it can cause psychological and physical dependence. The term tusi itself does not have a specific meaning in standard Spanish; it is an everyday term used in the drug trade and among users. Listen to our Pink Cocaine Podcast explaining what pink cocaine actually is and where it comes from.
Colombia’s Infamous ‘Pink Cocaine’ Is on the Rise in Europe
Pink cocaine is also known as “tusi,” but both nicknames for the powder are more about marketing than reality. This photo provided by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor in New York shows a bag of pink cocaine in January 2023. The media has played a role in glamorizing this type of drug and drug abuse behavior, often depicting them in a favorable light in television and movies as a pink powder drug, perpetuating a troubling trend.
Medellin, Colombia: Birthplace of Tusi
Pink cocaine is a combination of other drugs. She said she tests each batch for fentanyl but admits she doesn’t otherwise know the contents of the drug mixtures she’s buying. Similar trends emerged with carfentanyl, a synthetic opioid 100 times more potent than its lethal sister-drug fentanyl.
What Is Pink Cocaine?
In addition to anxiety and paranoia, use of this drug can cause psychotic episodes and flashbacks, in which the user relives the drug’s effects long after use. With repeated use, users can develop tolerance, leading to an increase in the dose consumed and an increased risk of severe adverse effects. Because the drug usually contains a mix of uppers and downers, it is sometimes called a speedball. To facilitate its consumption, it began to be mixed with pink food coloring, which gave it its name and characteristic aesthetic. In its early days, it was an elite drug, much more expensive than cocaine.
The health consequences of Tusi are severe and diverse due to its mixed composition. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid responsible for numerous overdose deaths, making the drug even more hazardous. According to a statement from Échele Cabeza, a Colombian drug testing study, Tusi primarily comprised amphetamine, MDMA, and ketamine up to this time. The exact composition varies by batch, making it difficult for users to know what they are ingesting, significantly increasing the risks of adverse effects and overdoses. Often marketed as a party drug, Pink Cocaine (Tusi) rarely contains actual cocaine or the psychedelic drug 2C-B, which it was initially marketed as resembling. Pink cocaine is usually either ingested in pill form or snorted as a powder.
“Combining a dissociative anaesthetic with alcohol is not a great mix. The drug induces excitement and euphoria, often raising sensory awareness. People commonly use the drug to experience a sense of openness, sociability, and euphoria.
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What are the side effects of pink cocaine? Your high may feel strongest within 1-3 hours, but the effects of pink cocaine may linger for 4-8 hours. A survey of 1,412 recreational drug users carried out earlier this year by Energy Control, a drug harm reduction NGO, found one in five people said they had used tusi in the last 12 months. According to a UN drugs report on the rise of the illegal ketamine trade published this week, this year tusi has been spotted at a music festival in the UK, and also in Austria and Switzerland.
What are the Effects of Pink Cocaine?
Experts say it rarely contains cocaine and is more likely to contain ketamine, a drug with very different effects. The pink powder — really a grab bag of different drugs dyed pink — has turned up in drug seizures, prompting warnings from law enforcement. A recreational drug called “pink cocaine” is getting attention and causing confusion since it doesn’t typically contain cocaine. The risk of addiction to pink cocaine is toosie colombian drug high. Cocaine is plant-based, whereas Pink Cocaine is a mixed-up cocktail drug that contains anything but cocaine, which makes this drug’s effects unpredictable and dangerous.
In October 2014, a struggle for control over tusi sales in Cali led to an internal purge in the Urabeños crime group that murdered eight people. By 2012, Colombian media were reporting how tusi was now the status drug of the Bogota elite, giving it a healthy publicity boost in the process. 2C-B powder can look unappealing and is notoriously painful to snort, so some early vendor began mixing their powder with an aromatic pink food coloring.