Cocaine is rarely sold on the street in its pure form. Dealers mix, or cut, cocaine with other substances to maximize how much profit they make. Cocaine might be cut with harmless powders, toxic additives or even more addictive and harmful drugs.
The practice of cutting the drug with other substances can make cocaine use even more dangerous for those who abuse it. In this article, we’ll explore why cocaine is cut, what cocaine is cut with, the risks involved and where to turn for help if you’re struggling with cocaine abuse.
Why Cocaine Is Often Mixed With Other Substances
The main reason cocaine is often mixed with other substances is to increase profits for illicit drug operations. By adding fillers or other drugs, dealers can sell more “cocaine” without using up all their actual cocaine reserves. In areas where cocaine is hard to acquire or expensive, dealers may cut it with increasing amounts of filler or other drugs.
Some dealers add substances to cocaine to enhance or alter the effects of the drug. For example, stimulants like caffeine might increase the energizing effects of cocaine. Dealers might then market the drug as more potent than it is or try to build a reputation for providing more powerful or “better” cocaine.
In some cases, dealers add more dangerous drugs like fentanyl, increasing both the addictive nature of the cocaine and the risks of overdose or death.
Common Adulterants Found in Cocaine
Knowing what people cut cocaine with is essential to understanding what danger you might experience if you abuse the drug. Here are some of the most common adulterants found in cocaine:
- Baking soda or cornstarch. These inexpensive additives mimic cocaine visually, making them a go-to for dealers who want their supply to go further. Any cheap white powder might be used to dilute cocaine in this manner, including laundry detergent, laxative powder or creatine powder.
- Lidocaine. This anesthetic agent might be added to cocaine to enhance the numbing effect and make the drug seem more authentic and powerful.
- Caffeine. Dealers may add caffeine powders to cocaine to add to the stimulating effect, making their drugs seem more powerful than others on the street.
- Levamisole. This deworming agent has been found in street cocaine samples. The substance can lead to serious health complications in humans.
- Fentanyl. This powerful synthetic opioid may be mixed with cocaine to support a faster, more powerful high and drive a greater level of addiction. Fentanyl is an especially dangerous drug, and when people use cocaine without realizing it’s been cut with this opioid, it dramatically increases the risk of overdose and death.
- Food coloring or dyes. Some additives change the color of cocaine, and some drug operations color their cocaine on purpose as a branding technique. However, anyone can mix food coloring or dyes into cocaine to create so-called blue cocaine or yellow cocaine. Some colored cocaine, such as pink cocaine, is rarely cocaine at all. The DEA reports that it seized 960 samples of pink powder marketed as pink cocaine and found 957 different substances.
The Dangers of Contaminated or Laced Cocaine
Any type of cocaine abuse can lead to risks that range from health concerns to legal problems. However, because dealers are usually not up-front about what cocaine has been cut with, laced cocaine is especially dangerous. You may have no idea what you’re putting in your body or how you might react to it.
Here are some of the biggest dangers of using contaminated cocaine.
Increased Risk of Overdose
Unknown drugs mixed into cocaine, such as fentanyl, substantially increase the risk of an overdose. This is especially true when you have no idea how much of any specific substance you might be taking.
For example, you could take a “usual” amount of cocaine for you and not realize half of it is fentanyl. Even a small amount of such a potent drug can be lethal, and for someone who has no opioid tolerance, an accidental overdose is a high risk.
Dangerous Drug Interactions
There’s a reason pharmacists carefully review prescribed drugs for each patient. Drug interactions of any type can be dangerous. But when you use contaminated cocaine, you may be taking a cocktail of unknown drugs that could interact with each other in ways that are unpleasant or harmful to you.
For instance, mixing cocaine and caffeine can increase the risks of seizures or the anxiety you feel as a side effect of abusing the drug. Mixing opioids and stimulants, including cocaine and caffeine, creates a confusing set of signals in the body. The drugs signal your body to speed up and slow down at the same time, which can lead to issues like heart or respiratory failure.
Increased Addiction Potential
When cocaine is cut with drugs or other agents that increase the high a person feels, it could drive more addictive behavior as the individual seeks that feeling again and again. Drugs like meth or fentanyl can also create a physical dependence. If someone inadvertently becomes physically addicted to those substances, they may be driven to seek more cocaine as they try to recreate the impact with cocaine that isn’t laced with the same drugs or amounts.
All these factors can make it harder for someone to quit using cocaine by increasing withdrawal symptoms and their severity.
Hidden Health Hazards
Often, cocaine is cut with fillers and additives that weren’t meant to be ingested, injected or inhaled into the human body. These substances can lead to serious health complications, including damage to internal organs, skin necrosis and a compromised immune system.
Identifying and Avoiding Dangerous Cocaine Mixtures
You can’t determine what cocaine has been cut with just by looking at it, and you also can’t rely on street branding techniques like dyed product to ensure cocaine comes from a “reliable” source.
Cocaine that’s an odd texture or color can signal contamination, but unless you can test the product via scientific methods, you won’t know what it’s cut with. For instance, there are test strips that can determine if fentanyl is present, but there’s no reliable way to identify all adulterants.
Ultimately, the only way to be sure you’re not using a dangerous cocaine mixture is to avoid using cocaine at all.
Stop Cocaine Use With Help
If you’re ready to step away from the risks of cocaine abuse and into a more sober lifestyle, you don’t have to do it on your own.