What is ‘tusi’, ‘pink cocaine’? What to know about colorful new designer drug

This toosie meaning drug combo can trigger side effects that are uncomfortable, scary, or harmful. Ongoing drug use may also change your brain. You could die if you don’t get medical treatment right away. Your side effects may be mild to severe.

What is the recreational drug ‘pink cocaine’?

• Listen to our Pink Cocaine Podcast explaining what pink cocaine actually is and where it comes from.
• All states have some version of Good Samaritan laws, which protects people who call for help during an overdose.
• 2C-B was initially developed by chemist Alexander Shulgin at Harvard University back in the 70s, and quickly gained popularity in the recreational drug scene.
• Contents of pink powder submissions labeled as tusi or 2C-B in the US,…
• Over the past 5 years, tusi has experienced a resurgence, especially in South and Central American club environments.

These can include seizures, cardiac arrhythmias, increased blood pressure, and risk of heart attack. 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. 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.

Health Conditions

Pink cocaine is pink thanks to food coloring or dye, said Joseph Palamar, who studies drug trends at NYU Langone Health in New York. 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. How is pink cocaine different from real cocaine? There is no medical use for pink cocaine. Are there any medicinal uses of pink cocaine?

What Exactly Is Tusi?

Tusi was introduced to Colombia by upper-class young people from Medellín who brought it from Europe.

How much is ‘pink cocaine’?

Street drugs aren’t regulated by the government, so there’s no way to know exactly what’s in pink cocaine. It’s typically a powdery mix of ketamine and illegal substances likely dyed with food coloring. The effects of tusi are varied and depend on the specific mix of substances in each dose. However, researchers say tusi may not be cocaine at all, but it will definitely be a combination of some of the most popular and dangerous street drugs. A new party drug from Latin America has made its way to the U.S. ‘Tusi,’ better known as “pink cocaine,” is popping up in nightclubs from coast to coast. One pink cocaine user, who takes the drug at least once a month, agreed to speak with CBS News without revealing her identity.

Nearly 80,000 Americans have died from poisonings linked to carfentanyl in the past two years, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Mixing stimulants and depressants in one dose can confuse your body and increase your risk of complications. You can typically swallow or snort the drug, not inject it. It was perhaps inevitable the drug would start to pop up in Spain, the European country with the closest links to Colombia’s drug world. “This drug is connected to the neo-drug trafficker culture in Colombia,” Julian Quintero, a sociologist and researcher at Social Technical Action, a Colombian drug policy NGO, told VICE World News.

What Are the Risks of Using Pink Cocaine?

In fact, it may not have any cocaine at all. The drug, which originally came from Colombia, has grown in popularity in the U.S. and other regions around the world. Various sources claim that the duration of its effects vary from 30 minutes to a maximum of 8 hours. Similar to ecstasy, tusi can cause an intense feeling of happiness and an increase in energy, making it popular at electronic music parties. Cocaine is a stimulant and ketamine is a sedative-hallucinogenic anesthetic.

“The effect on them is not going to be what they would’ve expected, and they may not be prepared in any way shape or form for that kind of reaction. It’s dangerous.” Further, prolonged tusi use can also result in depression, anxiety, personality shifts, and changes in sleep patterns. Users have noted that the illegal drug intensifies their senses, makes them feel elated, and quickens heart rates. Additionally, it’s reported that a tusi “high” stays anywhere from one to three hours but could last as long as eight.

Medical

Drug cartels in Colombia gave the nickname Tusi or Tucibi to this dangerous drug cocktail just to make it easier to market. The unregulated and often unknown composition of Tuci amplifies these risks, making each use potentially life-threatening. “That was the first time that I heard of large batches being imported into the U.S. as tusi,” Palamar said. Ketamine is a powerful anesthetic approved for use during surgery but in recent years it has been used recreationally and as a treatment for depression, anxiety and pain. Users could wind up with undesired effects or take a larger amount than past experience tells them they can handle.

Brennan added that “the primary concern is for the users,” especially considering the drug isn’t consistent in its makeup. WebMD reports that NPS drugs are challenging to test because their chemical makeup differs. Those “new psychoactive substances” mentioned, or NPS, have also puzzled authorities. “Prevalence appears to be increasing, but it’s a pretty new drug, so we don’t know how popular this drug concoction is going to be in the near future. I do think it’s gonna be more prevalent though,” Palamar said. Regardless of how dangerous the mixture is, the bright candy color and the cheap price are appealing to many potential users. Officials say the drug is low in price, but it’s even higher in risk since so much is unknown about the drug.

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. While the cocaine you buy off the street may have other things added to it, pink cocaine may not include any actual cocaine. The only way to avoid the risks of pink cocaine is to not use it. Does pink cocaine have long-term effects?

Jones made shocking allegations in court documents, including accusing Diddy of hosting wild, drug-fueled parties where sexual assaults took place. Originating in Colombia, Tusi became a hot topic of conversation after the drug was mentioned in Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones Jr.’s lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs. He told FOX 5 NY that it will continue to make headlines if it hits the hip-hop world like the drug molly did. The bright-colored powder has been gaining popularity among the nightlife scene in New York City because of its low price.

Beginning in 2015, tusi began to be exported to countries such as the United States, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. This mixture became the standard formula, which rarely contained 2C-B from that point on. Due to the limited availability of 2C-B, traffickers began adulterating it with caffeine, MDMA, and ketamine.

• While the cocaine you buy off the street may have other things added to it, pink cocaine may not include any actual cocaine.
• The teenage gangster culture has been democratised.” He said tusi is the most popular drug of choice for foreigners who enter the sex trade in Medellin and Cartagena.
• But they’re chemically a little different and may not show up on current drug tests.
• Authorities in New York City report that lab-tested samples have very little or no cocaine.
• Experts say it rarely contains cocaine and is more likely to contain ketamine, a drug with very different effects.

The bright pink substance’s look appeals to users, but because it is a relatively newer drug, its long-term effects have yet to be studied. According to Jones, Diddy hired a “mule” named Brendan Paul who “procured, transported and distributed ecstasy, cocaine, GHB, ketamine, marijuana, mushrooms, and tuci by packing these substances in their carry-on luggage and going through TSA.” Further, Jones named Yung Miami as someone who helped transport the drug to the Bad Boy mogul. Law enforcement officials say “pink cocaine,” also known as “tusi,” has been connected to drug seizures and, in some cases, is being trafficked by the notorious Venezuelan migrant gang Tren de Argua. The problem is that there’s no way to know what other drugs or chemicals are inside “pink cocaine.” The concoction is also sometimes referred to as “pink cocaine” as it typically comes in the form of pink powder.

Factors including drug tolerance, physical stature, how much is used (and frequency), as well as what is in tusi can influence these harmful effects. “Certainly, any customer would assume that there would be cocaine in something marketed as ‘pink cocaine,'” New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan said, per Newsweek. Synthetic drugs have long wreaked havoc on communities worldwide, and “Tuci” or “Tusi,” also known as “Pink Cocaine,” is the latest substance to surge in the market. “Pink cocaine” gained even more popularity when it was mentioned in a civil lawsuit against Sean Diddy Combs as one of the disgraced mogul’s alleged drugs of choice.

For drug use, Palamar equated it to a diary to alert people to the effects of drugs. Many Americans have only recently learned of the drug known as “pink cocaine” from a deluge of celebrity horror stories. If you plan to use pink cocaine or are around people who do, consider carrying naloxone. At-home test strips or reagent testing kits may not be able to detect the full scope of substances included in the mix. Using pink cocaine puts you at serious risk because you can’t predict what you’re taking. It’s an unreliable mix of powdered substances that vary from batch to batch.

Users often experience a mixture of ketamine’s sedative, trippy high with the more stimulant buzz of MDMA and caffeine. If you or someone you care about is seeking support for substance abuse and addiction challenges, we are here to offer our assistance. With people confined to their homes during lockdowns, drug use became an increasingly attractive option. However, like many drugs of its kind, it poses exceptional dangers.

A bright pink drug from Colombia that is a mish-mash of MDMA and ketamine is gaining traction among drug users in Europe. 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. 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.