- The headline-making drug âpink cocaineâ has been mentioned in the ongoing Sean âDiddyâ Combs sex trafficking case and was linked to the death of One Direction star Liam Payne
- âPink cocaineâ is a catchall term for a mixture of drugs that may or may not contain cocaine
- It usually is made with ketamine â but as Dr. Adam Berman, a toxicologist and an addiction medicine specialist who is also the associate chair of Emergency Medicine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, tells PEOPLE, âNobody truly knows what they are usingâ
Itâs been mentioned in a civil lawsuit against Sean âDiddyâ Combs and has been linked to the shocking death of One Direction star Liam Payne. But what exactly is âpink cocaineâ?
For starters, it depends on the batch.
âItâs a general term that people are using recently for a mixture of substances,â Dr. Adam Berman, a toxicologist and an addiction medicine specialist who is also the associate chair of Emergency Medicine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, tells PEOPLE.
âSometimes it contains cocaine, but very frequently it contains very little amounts of cocaine,â he explains. âItâs usually a mix of what people would consider uppers and downers. You really donât know what youâre getting when you are using pink cocaine.â
However, âvery frequently, ketamine will be in it,â Berman tells PEOPLE. Ketamine â sometimes called Special K â is a âdissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects,â the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration explains. Â
âKetamine can induce a state of sedation (feeling calm and relaxed), immobility, relief from pain, and amnesia (no memory of events while under the influence of the drug)â. One victim alleged that Diddy provided them with unknown substances â which she later learned contained Ketamine according to a complaint.
The embattled music mogul Diddy faces multiple lawsuits alleging he drugged and raped people as young as 13.
According to a report from The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, âpink cocaineâ may be combined with methamphetamine, cocaine, opioids, or other substances, The journal said itâs also known as âTusiâ â a phonetic version of â2C,â which is the classification for a certain psychedelic.
However, psychedelics â or even cocaine â arenât always included in the powder, which the Washington Post explained is dyed pink by dealers.
And as the National Capital Poison Center cautions, âPhysical and sexual assaults, as well as traumatic injuries, have occurred when people are impaired by this type of drug.âÂ
The Poison Control Center adds that the drug can âlead to long-term addictionâ and has a wide-ranging list of effects â depending on what is in that particular batch.Â
âPeople use the drug to experience a sense of openness, sociability, and euphoria. Adverse effects include hallucinations, anxiety, elevated body temperature, increased heart rate and blood pressure, low sodium levels, nausea and vomiting, and rarely, seizures, abnormal heart rhythms, and coma.â Â
âPink cocaineâ was one of several substances uncovered in a toxicology report conducted on late One Direction star Liam Payne, who fell to his death on Oct. 16 at age 31.
âEveryone has their tomato sauce but everyoneâs tomato sauce is a little bit different â but they all call it tomato sauce,â Berman told PEOPLE.
âThe biggest danger, of course, is death. Itâs a fine balance between uppers and downers and if someone uses a mixture that contains more downers, so to speak, they can easily stop breathing.â
âIt really is the wild west out there,â he said. âNobody truly knows what they are using when they use anything.â
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