Getting the Facts Right on Common Cocaine Cutting Agents
Let’s start at the beginning: cocaine is made from the leaves of the coca plant. Shortly after manufacturing, cocaine has around 90-100% purity. By the time it reaches the average consumer, though, purity is significantly lower. This can leave you wondering what coke is cut with and if these substances can be dangerous.
So, what is coke cut with these days, and how can you best protect yourself or a loved one using it?
The reality is that fentanyl has transformed the drug landscape – into a much deadlier one. It takes just a few grains of fentanyl to overdose, less powder than you can fit on the tip of a pencil!
Below, we will talk more about the many cocaine-cutting agents you’ll find in contemporary coke, including household products, anesthetics, other illicit drugs, and other substances. Our resource will also talk about how these agents affect your body, how to recognize cut cocaine, and what to do if you’re experiencing the symptoms of an overdose.
Finally, we would be remiss if we did not mention that you or that special someone in your life using cocaine can avoid danger and embrace a healthier way of life through our help at Purpose Healing Center.
Why Do People Cut Cocaine? Spoiler Alert: More Profit
Well, we’ve given it away already, but the short answer is money: selling cocaine and other drugs is a lucrative industry. Most often, dealers cut cocaine do it for more profit. By using cutting agents, they have more of the powdered substance. They sell it for the same price, turning a greater profit off the same amount of cocaine.
How Can You Tell What Cocaine is Cut With? 6 Common Cocaine Cutting Agents
It’s not always clear what cocaine is cut with. Whether it is sold in powdered form or solid form (crack cocaine), many cocaine-cutting agents mimic the appearance, taste, and even the melting point of the substance. This makes it hard to know exactly what it’s been cut with, particularly if it has changed hands between dealers before reaching the buyer.
Even though you may have some clues based on the appearance of cocaine, many types of cutting agents mimic the appearance and effects of cocaine. They affect the metabolization of cocaine and how long the high lasts. While some are semi-harmless, other substances cause side effects. They come with a heightened risk of overdose and the possibility of death.
Different adulterants cause different effects, like Levamisole, a deworming agent that is commonly used to give a ‘fish scale’ appearance. We will touch on this more in the coming sections.
Plus, many of these substances change the way that cocaine is processed by the body. This means metabolites present in urine and blood after cocaine use can be detected for a longer time. Some of the substances most commonly used to cut cocaine include:
1) Household Products Used to Cut Cocaine
Many substances around the house might be used to cut cocaine. Some of the most common include talcum powder, baby laxatives, aspirin, and boric acid. Most of these are harmless for the most part, though they can cause nasal irritation, diarrhea, headaches, and other minor symptoms.
The exception is boric acid, an insecticide, flame retardant, and antiseptic that can cause kidney damage or fatal toxicity in high amounts.
Cocaine mixed with household products may also be cut with stimulants or other substances. These ingredients mimic some of the effects of cocaine. For example, they might numb the gums or have a stimulating effect. Let’s take a closer look at these common additives.
2) The Rise of Levamisole as a Cutting Agent
Levamisole use as a cocaine-cutting agent is popular. According to the DEA, approximately 69-80% of cocaine samples are cut using levamisole. Levamisole is not a stimulant, but it does have stimulating effects. It is a treatment used to remove parasites from the body, typically used by veterinarians since it is no longer regulated in the United States.
Levamisole also has a longer half-life than cocaine and is metabolized differently by the body. Cocaine’s effects are strongest right after snorting, smoking, or ingesting the drug. By contrast, levamisole’s concentration is highest three hours after ingesting and its amphetamine-like properties may be felt up to 30 hours later.
The stimulating effects of this cutting agent make it even harder to sleep when you’re coming down from cocaine. There’s also an increased risk of health problems. Levamisole weakens the immune system and makes infection more likely. Even a small cut causes dermal necrosis or MRSA when your immune system is compromised in this way.
3) Using Caffeine Powder to Adulterate Cocaine
Caffeine powder is easily available in the United States. This cutting agent has a low cost, bitter taste, and stimulating effects that mimic cocaine. When used together, caffeine enhances the effects of cocaine. As a stimulant on its own, however, there’s an increased risk that coronary symptoms occur after use.
4) Anesthetics and Analgesics
Certain drugs may also be used for cutting cocaine because of their numbing effects. The way that the drug numbs the mouth, gums, and face mimics the feeling of cocaine. Cutting agents common in this category are lidocaine, procaine, benzocaine, and phenacetin.
When a person uses cocaine cut with lidocaine or other numbing agents, the outcome depends on potency and the specific drug. Phenacetin, for example, is a known carcinogen discontinued in the United States for its negative health consequences.
5) Amphetamines and Other Stimulant Drugs
Amphetamine, methamphetamine, and other stimulants are common cocaine-cutting agents. The risk of overdose is significantly higher when using cocaine cut with an “upper”. There is a higher risk of seizures, cardiovascular issues, heart attack, and stroke. Long-term use of stimulants also causes chronic inflammation and increases the risk of developing Parkinson’s.
Furthermore, methamphetamine stays in your system longer than cocaine. As opposed to the 72 hours cocaine can be detected in urine, methamphetamines can be detected for 4-6 days after use.
Consuming cocaine mixed with other substances also increases the risk of mental health side effects like depression, suicidal ideations, violent outbursts, and psychosis.
6) Heroin and Synthetic Opioids Like Fentanyl
Drug dealers may also lace cocaine with opioids including heroin, morphine, fentanyl, and carfentanil, a synthetic opioid even more dangerous than fentanyl. The lethal amount of fentanyl or carfentanil is minute, making it crucial to be cautious.
Cocaine cut with these drugs has a high risk of causing adverse health effects. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), this combination is dangerous and potentially fatal. Furthermore, synthetic opioids may be found in heroin, illegitimate prescription pills, and various powdered substances.
Can You Detect Illicit Drugs Like Fentanyl in Cocaine?
It is possible to test cocaine for fentanyl. In response to the rising numbers of overdose deaths reported, many places have made fentanyl testing strips available to the public. Like needle exchange programs, these are intended to reduce the harm that drug use is doing to our communities.
However, these test strips are not always reliable. While they test for fentanyl, cocaine may be cut with other dangerous drugs like carfentanil. They also do not detect trace amounts of fentanyl, which is all that is needed for an overdose.
How to Recognize Cut Cocaine
Buying cocaine from street dealers, the dark web, or other sources comes with the likelihood that the cocaine is cut with other substances. The coca plant grows in Columbia and South America. Unless you’re getting it straight from the source, it has likely been “stepped on” or cut.
This may happen every time that it changes hands. Furthermore, cocaine from countries like Brazil and Columbia, very close to cocaine’s source, only has an average cocaine purity of 50-70%.
Therefore, it’s not necessarily recognizing whether you’re cocaine has been cut, as it has all been cut to some extent. It’s knowing what the cocaine has been cut with. Unfortunately, since many of the products mimic the color, consistency, and numbing effects of cocaine, it may be impossible to tell without a lab test. It’s nearly impossible to tell if cocaine is laced with life-threatening fentanyl.
What Should I Do if I Think My Cocaine Has Been Laced with Fentanyl or Another Illicit Drug?
When cocaine is cut or laced with dangerous ingredients, there may be little warning before you start having negative side effects. Medical treatment can be challenging because it’s hard to know exactly what cocaine-cutting agents were consumed.
If you are having a negative reaction to cocaine, seek medical attention immediately. While you may be encouraged to get detox and treatment for coke, hospitals have rules in place that protect people seeking medical help. They will not call the police or get you in trouble.
It can also be helpful to have Narcan on hand for medical emergencies. Narcan can be life-saving for someone overdosing on fentanyl. Signs of a fentanyl overdose include entering a stupor, lower temperature, feeling cold and clammy, pinpoint pupils, bluish skin tint, slowed breathing, respiratory failure, and sudden death.
Going through this process can be eye-opening. Addiction has never been more dangerous with fentanyl contaminating even stimulant drugs. Consider looking at addiction treatment options before it’s too late.
Any Illicit Drug May Be Cut with Fentanyl These Days
It’s fairly normal for drugs to be “stepped on”. Cutting cocaine is popular as it changes hands. As it is cut with other substances by more dealers, the final product may contain several substances that are not cocaine.
Often, the more times a drug has changed hands, the less potent it is when it reaches the buyer. This is evident with cocaine being much less potent on the eastern side of the United States than it is closer to the popular channels drug dealers use on the West Coast.
At one time, all you had to worry about your coke being cut with was baby laxatives or aspirin. While you could have uncomfortable symptoms like diarrhea or a headache from cocaine the next day, it doesn’t come with the same risks as the drug carries today. In today’s drug scene, cocaine laced with fentanyl isn’t uncommon. Chronic use or taking large doses of cocaine comes with even more serious risks if it’s been laced with the wrong cutting agent.
Get Effective Help to Quit Cocaine Abuse at Purpose
Often, cocaine use begins innocently enough. You might do a bump when drinking with friends or be introduced to it at a party. Even when it starts with recreational use, however, cocaine is highly addictive. It activates the pleasure center of the brain.
Often, after a person starts to come down, they’ll crave cocaine and the euphoria associated with it. As use becomes more frequent, something that started innocently can quickly snowball into an addiction.
If you are struggling with cocaine abuse and want treatment options, give Purpose Healing Center a call. Even if you only use cocaine on occasion, it only takes using cocaine cut with fentanyl or other dangerous substances once for it to be fatal. It’s more important now than ever to get help.
At Purpose, our unique treatment plans are based on your needs and are different for everyone. Call to learn more about individualized treatment options and get the support you need for recovery today!
480-579-3319