death of music star Liam PayneSex trafficking allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs. A fatal car accident involving an Instagram model. Many Americans have recently become aware of The drug known as “Pink Cocaine” From the flood of celebrity horror stories. Joseph Palmer, associate professor of population health at NYU Langone, says they're late to the party.
“A lot of people think this is the new powder that's going around,” Palmer said. “It's a beautiful pink powder, and everyone started using it when it really started to take off in mid-2023.”
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“Chatter increases before a lot of toxicity happens”
When Palamar first heard about pink cocaine, his team immediately investigated the post on Reddit as part of their research for the National Drug Early Warning System. The organization specializes in narcotics monitoring and collects data on drugs that may be increasing in popularity and lethality.
“We've looked at other drugs, and what we found … is that the chatter increases several times before a lot of toxicity occurs,” Palamar said.
Palamar explained that there is an entire community called “psychonauts”, in which people try new drugs or induce “altered states of consciousness” and post about their experiences. As for drug use, Palamar compared it to a diary to alert people to the effects of drugs.
National Drug Early Warning System
Standing in front of a chart that resembles a stock rally on Wall Street, Palamar explained how each Reddit post about pink cocaine represents a data point he can use to better predict drug trends and warn the public. Does it to give.
“When we spot a trend, we alert everyone we can think of,” he said. “We alerted the health department, academics and people who use. We want to spread our information widely to stop the use. This is worrying because it is already high, and it is increasing. Our There are already dozens of people talking about it every day.”
The warning system first issued an alert on pink cocaine in February 2023, when researchers noticed an increase in Redditors' interactions. By the summer the conversation had nearly doubled to more than 30 posts per day.
National Drug Early Warning System
“It appears that there are more conversations on average now,” Palamar said. “It's more consistent. We don't have as little decline as in past years.”
CBS News contacted Reddit for comment on the research. A spokesperson said its policies prohibit buying or selling drugs, and most of the conversation on its message boards is warning other Reddit users about pink cocaine.
Similar trends emerged with carfentanil, a synthetic opioid that is up to 100 times more potent than its deadlier sister drug, fentanyl. Nearly 80,000 Americans have died from poisoning linked to carfentanil in the past two years, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
“Don't play with this stuff…it's a powerful substance.”
One pink cocaine user, who takes the drug at least once a month, agreed to speak to CBS News without identifying herself. She said she tests each batch for fentanyl but admitted she doesn't otherwise know what the ingredients are in the drug mix she's buying.
“You never know what's in it every time.” He said. “You don't know what's inside… There are some ingredients that make you dance. There are some ingredients that can make you feel more chilled. There are some ingredients that can make you feel more fulfilled Are.”
Those unknowns – about the substance and the high – prompted Frank Tarantino, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Agency in New York, to issue a. Urgent warning to CBS News New York.
Tarantino said, “When people are looking for pink cocaine and they think they're buying pink cocaine, they're actually buying a drug that has fentanyl mixed in it and they have no idea and they're Overdosing and dying.”
The anonymous user who spoke to CBS News said she found fentanyl in her supply.
“I gave it back,” she said. “It's dangerous.”
pink cocaine is not cocaine
Pink cocaine is often confused with real cocaineTusi, another street name for the substance, is often confused for the synthetic psychedelic 2C-B. It's neither of those.
Pink cocaine is a combination of other drugs. According to the National Capital Poison Center, its pink color is due to the addition of food coloring and sometimes strawberry or other flavors.
Authorities said it is commonly used by young people in the club scene. Pink cocaine is usually consumed either in pill form or snorted as a powder. Rarely, it is injected.
According to DEA data of nearly 1,000 seizures, a CBS News analysis found that 99.5% of the pink powder seized by the Drug Enforcement Agency is a mixture of ketamine and other drugs, which may include fentanyl.
