Pink cocaine, the misleadingly named drug that’s actually a mix of ketamine and MDMA, is in the news this week with dueling stories about a Miami model and alleged New Jersey dealer.
Maecee Marie Lathers was arrested on August 10 after crashing her Mercedes into a pair of cars that left two dead and two others injured. Body cam footage from that scene suggested that the 24-year-old, described in reports as an Instagram model, had admitting to taking the brightly-colored drug, also known as tusi and first covered in a VICE documentary in 2022. She faces two DUI manslaughter charges.
Meanwhile, a New Jersey man named Rodrigo Zapata was charged for selling guns and pink cocaine across Manhattan after undercover cops scored eight firearms and over a pound of narcotics—including the trendy party drug.
The origins of tusi can be traced back to Colombia in 2010 when it was linked to young narcos who were reportedly targeting the club scenes and tourist sex trade with pink cocaine. While tusi is predominantly made with ketamine and MDMA, other drugs have been known to be experimented with in the mix, including caffeine, benzos, and meth.
Trip Report’s Cameron Scally warned against taking tusi, also known as 2C-B, in an interview with VICE last year after noticing its prevalence around London. Scally noted people who take the essentially repackaged ketamined/MDMA mix “are just getting absolutely ripped off more than anything.”
The National Library of Medicine ran a story about tusi in 2023, describing the drug’s growing popularity among Americans. Researchers noted that the name tusi is a phonetic translation of “2C,” the name for phenethylamines meant to mimic MDMA while being marketed as ‘legal’—which was confusing, since mostly tusi was just ket and regular MDMA. Because of that unpredictability, they said, “unintentional exposure to its contents can lead to increased risk of adverse effects.”
The post Pink Cocaine Tied to Miami Model’s Fatal Wreck and a Manhattan Drug Bust appeared first on VICE.
The post Pink Cocaine Tied to Miami Model’s Fatal Wreck and a Manhattan Drug Bust appeared first on VICE.
