Cocaine has always been a designer drug. But, now it even comes in designer colors. Like pink!
But, wait is it really cocaine? Nope!
We are dealing with a whole new class of drug here people. A street mixed designer drug knock-off of a Harvard-invented pharmaceutical drug. Made from a fireball of combinations of the most popular drugs that came before it and mixed together in underground dirty labs. This pink cocaine-like drug called Tuci has become the new hottest drug on the streets in most of the cartel countries. Which means it’s coming to a neighborhood near you sooner rather than later. With major cartels already moving the drug into cities in Europe.
Pink Cocaine is the common street drug slang term for this concoction that is actually synthetic phenylethylamine, otherwise known as 2C-B. The street drug version however may or may not even have real 2C-B in it. With many cartels making a version of the drug that does not actually contain real 2C-B but is instead a combination of multiple other popular street drugs. Which is then turned into a pink powder by adding food coloring to the mix. The term “Pink Cocaine” is actually a misnomer because the new pink street drug does not share any chemical resemblance to real cocaine, which is plant-derived hydrochloride.
A fancy pants Harvard organic chemist by the name of Alexander Shulgin, known for his work with Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or ecstasy), originally developed phenylethylamine 2C-B in the early 1970s. The drug was then marketed and sold as a libido enhancer and treatment for erectile dysfunction in the United States under the commercial medical name Performax or Erox. In 1995, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency reclassified the drug as a Schedule 1 Controlled substance because it has no acceptable medical use and has a high potential for people to abuse it and become addicted.
Over the last decade or so, Phenylethylamine 2C-B has had a resurgence as a recreational party drug in South and Central America, which is where it became known as pink cocaine or Bromo. Cartel drug manufacturers commonly manufacture the drug as a pill or a pink powder that users ingest orally or intranasally. Drug cartels like The Enterprise have hundreds of safe houses and home labs like the one pictured above. Where they create the new magic drug and the truth is no one knows exactly what’s in their versions. Some say it can vary from bag to bag. One thing is for sure, it has a base of a combination of classic designer street drugs like ecstasy, ketamine, and amphetamines. The combination creates a designer speedball effect of ecstasy, alertness, and euphoria that its users and clubgoers absolutely love. The drug seems to be a lot like the amphetamine pills called “Peaches” that were once popular in the Montreal rave community.
The drug has also inspired multiple popular pop music songs in Latin America and has an entire music genre dedicated to its use. Like ecstasy and house music. Tuci has become intertwined with the music and rave experience in Latin American countries, where the cartels that invented the new version of the drug thrive. The “Queen of Tuci” The Enterprise’s leader is already making multiple millions of dollars with the drug inside of the cartel-controlled countries. In Central America, Tuci has already become the new most popular street drug amongst young people. Tuci has the designer pink color and a price tag to match often costing its users three times as much as cocaine. Users can get the street version in a pill form but more often than not it comes in a small bag like cocaine. Usually having cartoon characters on it or other designs. Then the user does the drug in lines or key bumps out of the bag. Hence why people call it “Pink Cocaine.”
Watch a cool Vice video about Tuci and an interview with the Queen of Tuci here.
