What is pink cocaine? Once used to treat erectile dysfunction, it is becoming popular party drug, doctors say

Pink cocaine rising in popularity as party drug

Pink cocaine has recently been linked to several celebrities. The trendy drug was linked via a lawsuit to Sean "Diddy" Combs and was most recently mentioned in Liam Payne’s toxicology report after the One Direction alum’s fatal fall from a balcony in Argentina.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Pink cocaine has recently been linked to several celebrities. The trendy drug was linked via a lawsuit to Sean "Diddy" Combs and was most recently mentioned in Liam Payne’s toxicology report after the One Direction alum’s fatal fall from a balcony in Argentina.

With its bright color and low price, experts say it’s growing in popularity as a party drug in the United States, but its misleading name makes the designer drug all the more dangerous.

Contrary to its name, Dr. Danish Ali said pink cocaine rarely contains cocaine.

"It is a substance made of ketamine as well as MDMA," Ali said. "What they do is put a little bit of food coloring, strawberry-colored food coloring, to give it that little pink color."

Ali said it can also be mixed with fentanyl, making it potentially deadly. It can also cause seizures and respiratory depression, according to Ali. Despite the dangers, pink cocaine, also called Tusi (or 2C) is gaining in popularity.

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"We have seen these stories come out in different parts of the country, as well – even Florida, as well. It’s commonly seen in the clubs, or restaurants, bars, etc. Because it’s got that nice little pink coloring to it, looks cool, and it's different than cocaine, and so, folks that have done other illicit substances think that this is different, this is cooler," Ali said. "It gives folks that euphoria, that high."

Although its rise in popularity is new, the drug itself is not. Ali said it has been around since the 70s when it was available with a doctor’s prescription.

"It came out for treating erectile dysfunction," Ali said. "Then many years later, we found that this is associated with complications and side-effects, so it became a substance one, or in the same category as cocaine."

Although mixed by drug dealers in America, pink cocaine is also linked to Central and South American gangs and has been intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard being trafficked into the U.S.

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