What is pink cocaine? The party drug linked to Liam Payne

The One Direction star Liam Payne had a drug cocktail named pink cocaine in his system when he fell off a hotel balcony in Argentina, reports have suggested.

While the toxicology results from his post-mortem have not been officially released, sources have told various outlets about initial findings.

Those stories have raised the profile of pink cocaine, a designer drug particularly popular in parts of Latin America which – despite its name – does not usually include cocaine.

So what do you find in pink cocaine, and what effects can it have?

What is pink cocaine?

While the more familiar version of cocaine has natural origins (though it is often cut with other substances on the street), pink cocaine is synthetic.

According to UK Addiction Treatment Centres, the most common elements of pink cocaine are MDMA (ecstasy), ketamine and amphetamines.

Sometimes you can also find drugs such as LSD and mescaline in there.

The lack of clarity over what is in different versions of the drug is one of the reasons it’s so dangerous for users.

Its appearance can vary from a powder to a pill, but it tends to be bright pink – often thanks to the addition of food colouring.

Where does it come from?

Pink cocaine is believed to have originated in Colombia, but became particularly popular over the Covid pandemic.

It popped up in various South American countries before spreading overseas, with a 2022 UN report listing examples of its appearance in Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria and the UK.

It is also sometimes known as ‘cocaina rosada’, ‘tuci’, ‘tucibi’, ‘pink powder’, ‘Eros’, and ‘Venus’.

What effects can it have?

Because it is a mixture of drugs, pink cocaine can have both a stimulant and a hallucinogenic effect.

Users describe having an experience that is both psychedelic and euphoric, causing dramatic mood swings that can quickly lead to anxiety and paranoia.

The extent of these effects is unpredictable due to the uncertain composition of the drug.

It is also highly addictive, and a particularly easy drug to overdose on.

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