What Is Pink Cocaine and Is It Dangerous?

A New and Dangerous Blend of Drugs: The Risks of Pink Cocaine and Its Unpredictable Ingredients

The illicit drug market is a ever-changing scene, with new drugs or methods of consumption always showing up. Youth who are indulging in drugs may be attracted to something new, something flashy or something that promises a new experience. In 2024, one new drug hitting the headlines is pink cocaine. It’s a mix that usually contains a fairly new synthetic drug that has little in common with actual cocaine.

The primary drug ingredient of pink cocaine is called 2C-B and it is a phenylethylamine, a type of synthetic drug with stimulant, hallucinogenic, and psychoactive properties. Only the practice of mixing this drug with ketamine, ecstasy (MDMA), and caffeine and coloring it pink is new.¹

The Characteristics of 2C-B

In 2001, 2C-B was called Nexus, and it was sold in dance venues and nightclubs. Seizures of 2C-B began occurring all across the country: Illinois, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, South Dakota, and more. The drug was remarkable for creating significantly different effects depending on whether it was taken in a low dosage or a high dosage. A user will never know how potent the 2C-B is that they purchase from a drug dealer, so they risk undesirable and dangerous effects.²

In small doses, a user becomes passive and relaxed and is aware of sensory and emotional changes along with euphoria. There will also be enhanced visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile perceptions. Larger doses act like a stimulant drug and cause an intoxicated condition. Higher doses can cause hallucinations that are similar to those produced by LSD. Even larger doses have produced terrifying hallucinations and morbid delusions.

Physical effects include:

Increased blood pressure
Faster heart rate
Increased body temperature
Nausea
Vomiting

More serious physical effects include seizures, abnormal heart rhythms, and coma. Addiction, heart disease, and stroke are possible effects.

When sold by itself, 2C-B may be called by any of these names:³

Tusi
Tuci
Tusibi
Tucibi
2’s
Toonies
Bromo
Spectrum
Venus

Arrival of the Pink Cocaine Mix on the American Drug Market

siezed pink cocaine — Image Courtesy of NYC.gov

News sources and government agencies began sounding the alarm on pink cocaine in early 2023. Seizures of 2C-B and pink cocaine were seen in Latin America and Europe before the drug began to show up in America. In January 2023, a drug bust in Manhattan came up with a backpack with ten pounds of a drug referred to as pink cocaine. That shipment contained only ketamine, a veterinary sedative that creates euphoric and hallucinogenic effects.⁴

Some samples of pink cocaine contain no 2C-B at all. Other samples have been found to be a mix of 2C-B and methamphetamine, cocaine, opioids, and/or new synthetic drugs.⁵ The user never knows what’s in the drug, which complicates any medical help they may need if things go badly for them.

In 2024, pink cocaine was involved in two dramatic news stories. In Miami on August 10th, a woman known as an Instagram model was high on pink cocaine when she crashed her Mercedes into a Range Rover, which then hit a Suzuki truck. Two occupants of the Suzuki were killed.⁶ As Maecee Lathers was arrested and loaded into an ambulance, she was incoherent and raved about aliens and claimed to be from the future. She admitted being high on pink cocaine, and a toxicology report found multiple drugs in her body. She has been charged with manslaughter.

Florida police activity on a street — Photo by MDV Edwards/Shutterstock.com

On September 13, 2024, the DEA reported an arrest in Manhattan of a man accused of trafficking cocaine and pink cocaine. In his case, the pink cocaine contained ketamine and ecstasy. Over a period of six months, Rodrigo Zapata sold his drugs to undercover officers no fewer than nine times.⁷

The amounts of this drug seized by law enforcement are accumulating. In June 2024, the U.S. Coast Guard reported the seizure of 140 pounds of this drug as Coast Guard boats patrolled the coasts of Central and South America.⁴ In September, Spanish authorities seized 46 pounds of pink cocaine along with 467 pounds of ketamine and 161 pounds of MDMA—two of the drugs often found as ingredients of pink cocaine.⁸

The Dangers of Pink Cocaine

The Miami traffic accident points out the very real dangers of this drug mixture. Officers found that when Lathers hit the Range Rover, her accelerator was pushed to its maximum and she was traveling 80 miles an hour down a city street.

In addition to the effects of 2C-B (which may or may not be included in any product sold as pink cocaine), the effect of the other drugs in this mix can be dangerous to one’s health or well-being. As much of the pink cocaine seized contains ecstasy and ketamine, it can have serious effects:

Ecstasy (MDMA)

Exhaustion
Dehydration
Increased body temperature
Organ damage and breakdown
Hallucinations
Panic attacks
Brain damage
Depression
Memory loss
Seizures
Addiction
Coma
Death

Ketamine

Immobilization and rigidity
Vomiting
Irregular heartbeat
Hallucinations
Psychiatric disturbances
Bladder damage requiring removal
Muscle breakdown
Seizures
Coma
Respiratory depression
Addiction

However, because pink cocaine can also contain methamphetamine, cocaine, opioids, or any of the new synthetic drugs on the illicit market, there is no way to predict the effects of any sample of this drug. One batch of this drug can be completely different from any other batch. One New York City police official commented that it was just a matter of time until fentanyl makes its way into this supply.⁹

The Slippery Slope of Drug Abuse

No matter what drug a person starts with, drug abuse is a slippery slope for so many people. Once a person uses their first drug for a while, it is common to seek a “better” high or to find out what other people are talking about when they describe their drug experiences. A little grass and alcohol can lead to trying a few pills and then smoking a little heroin, and then suddenly that heroin contains a fatal dose of fentanyl. Or experimenting with MDMA at a party could lead to other synthetics and pink cocaine.

At one time, maybe a person could dabble with a few drugs and survive. In these days of fentanyl and the ever-changing, completely random world of synthetics, using any drug is a game of Russian roulette with one’s health and future. Pink cocaine will be followed by hundreds of new synthetic drugs. After all, one European agency reports tracking more than 900 new synthetic, psychoactive drugs as of the end of 2022.¹⁰ There will always, always be more of these cheap, dangerous, and frequently life-threatening drugs on the market.

Sources:

“What is Pink Cocaine?” Poison Control, undated. Poison Control ↩︎
“2C-B (Nexus) Reappears on the Club Drug Scene.” Department of Justice, 2001. DOJ ↩︎
“4-Bromo-2,5-Dimethoxyphenethylamine.” Drug Enforcement Admninistration, 2024. DEA ↩︎
“‘Pink Cocaine’ Emerging as New Threat in Drug Market, Experts Warn.” Newsweek, 2024. Newsweek ↩︎ ↩︎
“Tusi: a new ketamine concoction complicating the drug landscape.” National Library of Medicine, 2023. NLM ↩︎
“Instagram model denied bond in ‘pink cocaine’ manslaughter case.” CourtTV.com, 2024. CourtTV.com ↩︎
“New Jersey Man Arrested in Sales of Eight Guns, Cocaine and ‘Pink Cocaine’ in Manhattan.” Drug Enforcement Administration, 2024. DEA ↩︎
“Pink cocaine and ecstasy worth £21.1 million seized in Spain’s largest synthetic drug bust.” ITVNews.com, 2024. ITVNews.com ↩︎
“Mystery ‘pink cocaine’ allegedly enjoyed by Diddy sees bump across NYC’s drug scene.” New York Post, 2024. New York Post ↩︎
“New psychoactive substances – the current situation in Europe.” European Union Drugs Agency, 2023. EUDA ↩︎

Karen

After a few years working at the Narconon center in Oklahoma, Karen has been researching drug trends around the world and writing reports and articles on addiction and recovery for nine years.
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