THE ESSENTIAL
- Contrary to what its name suggests, “pink cocaine” does not contain cocaine. It is a complex mixture of substances already well known on the illicit market, including ketamine, MDMA and caffeine.
- The substance, with mainly hallucinogenic and stimulating effects, comes in the form of a pink powder, which consumers inhale or inject. Due to the presence of several different drugs, the health risks are high.
- One of the greatest dangers of “pink cocaine” is its ambiguity. The consumer, attracted by the image of an exotic and new product, may find himself faced with a substance whose components or effects he does not know.
At the beginning of September, Spanish police made a major seizure of synthetic drugs in Ibiza: 300 kilos of ecstasy, 212 kilos of ketamine and 21 kilos of “pink cocaine”. Also known as “tucibi” (English pronunciation of 2C-B), this new substance appeared in certain regions of France from 2021, according to a report from the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies (OFDT) dating from June 2023. But what is this synthetic drug made of?
A complex cocktail of well-known drugs
Contrary to what its name suggests, “pink cocaine” does not contain cocaine, or even 2C-B, a psychedelic substance from the phenethylamine family. This drug is nothing more than a complex mixture of substances already well known on the illicit market, including ketamine, MDMA (or ecstasy) and caffeine. To this basic cocktail can be added various “hallucinogens, opiates or medications”. All sometimes flavored with “strawberry, banana or passion fruit flavors”for a price oscillating between 60 and 100 euros per gram, specifies the OFDT. If this new drug was reported in 2010 in Latin America, particularly in Colombia, it appeared in France “on the ‘menus’ of certain resellers in 2022”particularly in Île-de-France, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Occitanie.
The substance, with mainly hallucinogenic and stimulating effects, comes in the form of a pink powder, which consumers inhale or inject. Due to the presence of several different drugs, the health risks are high: an often difficult descent, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, even loss of consciousness, or even overdose. The presence of ketamine further increases the dangers, causing violent dissociative effects and breathing difficulties, especially since users are often unaware of the real composition of what they are buying or thinking they are snorting cocaine.
The risk of using a drug you don’t know about
Despite its increasing distribution, “pink cocaine” still remains poorly documented, and health authorities lack data on its uses and availability. The rare seizures made by law enforcement, as well as OFDT analyses, confirm that this “new” product is only an assembly of existing substances, without real chemical innovation, but with potentially devastating effects. .
According to experts, one of the greatest dangers of “pink cocaine” is its ambiguity. The consumer, attracted by the image of an exotic and new product, may find themselves faced with a substance whose components or effects they do not know, thus increasing the risk of complications. As this drug makes its way into certain party circles, health authorities continue to closely monitor its progress.
