You may think you know what you’re buying when you purchase cocaine, particularly if you use the same dealer or buy from trusted friends.
However, this substance is completely unregulated and is often made in unsanitary and even dangerous conditions, with potentially poisonous additives and unknown ingredients added to bulk out the cocaine.
In 2020, there were 777 deaths directly linked to cocaine across England and Wales. [1] While many of these were due to overdoses, a large percentage were not simply due to the drug itself but rather the additional substances and additives found in cocaine.
In 2019, the purity of cocaine seized in the UK has been found to be 63%. [2] This leaves an additional 37% of this substance that is made up of unknown and potentially dangerous ingredients.
This article will examine the various additives and fillers that may be found in your cocaine, as well as the risks that come with ingesting this dangerous and unregulated substance.
Cocaine is a stimulant drug most commonly seen in the form of a white powder. It can be snorted, injected, smoked or rubbed on the gums and can make you feel euphoric and energetic. [3]
Due to its confidence-boosting abilities, many people use cocaine recreationally in a social context. It is a fast-acting stimulant, meaning that it enters and leaves your bloodstream very quickly.
A cocaine high is intense and short-lived, and many people continue to use cocaine regularly and frequently within a 24-hour period. This is known as a binge and can leave the user feeling extremely depressed and lethargic once they stop using the substance.
Cocaine is highly addictive and can cause a psychological dependency fairly quickly. If used long-term it can deplete the brain and body of serotonin, resulting in severe depression and causing the affected person to lose interest in hobbies and activities that they once enjoyed.
Harvested from the leaves of the coca plant, cocaine goes through a number of steps before it appears as the white powder many people are familiar with.
First, the leaves are harvested and then soaked in gasoline. Once the gasoline has been drained, the coca leaves are dried and then dissolved into a solvent mixture.
Any excess solvents are then removed, and the leftover substance is dried into bricks which are then portioned off to sell.
As you can probably imagine, this is an unregulated and illegal process that is often conducted in unsanitary conditions with mice, rats and insects running freely amongst the leaves and cocaine bricks.
You may believe that you are purchasing pure cocaine, but many unscrupulous producers and dealers will add additional ingredients to the cocaine to make the bricks heavier and ensure that their supply of cocaine fetches the highest profit possible.
Although cocaine is made from a natural substance, it does not make it safe or healthy to ingest. In fact, cocaine use is extremely dangerous and can be potentially fatal in severe cases.
As mentioned above, cocaine is not created by scientists in a clean and sterile environment – instead, this substance is made in unregulated and often unhygienic conditions by people who have a financial incentive to bulk it out with filler and additives.
Below are some of the most common ingredients found in cocaine, but be warned – some of them may shock you.
It’s thought that up to 80% of cocaine in the United Kingdom is cut with levamisole, a drug commonly used to kill worms and parasites in cattle. [4]
This substance is often used to increase the weight of cocaine batches, and because it is difficult to detect many people are unknowingly ingesting this potentially dangerous drug.
One of the levamisole’s more serious side effects includes a blood disorder known as agranulocytosis, which can weaken your immune system and increase your risk of contracting a life-threatening infection.
Ingesting levamisole can also put you at greater risk of developing severe skin ulcers, causing your flesh to turn black and begin to rot, as well as organ damage which can lead to other serious conditions.
Although this substance is generally found in small quantities within each batch of cocaine, some people are genetically vulnerable to the effects of levamisole.
As most cocaine users are not aware of this predisposition, they are putting themselves at risk each time they ingest this drug.
Benzocaine is a cheap white powder commonly used as a dental anaesthetic and is extremely easy to mix with cocaine due to its similar appearance.
While this substance is relatively safe when used by medical professionals in a sterile environment, it can be extremely dangerous when ingested with cocaine.
Benzocaine use can result in tissue death, a condition known as methemoglobinemia which can be fatal if left untreated.
It can also lead to multiple problems with the lungs, heart and brain, with some people experiencing adverse effects for the rest of their lives.
Another form of anaesthetic, lidocaine can increase the effects of cocaine to a fatal degree. It also has a numbing effect similar to cocaine, so many people are unaware that they have ingested this drug.
You are more likely to experience seizures or convulsions if you ingest lidocaine-laced cocaine, and are at greater risk of developing a potentially fatal heart arrhythmia.
If you continue to use cocaine laced with lidocaine for a longer amount of time, it can lead to a more severe and life-threatening addiction that can be extremely hard to break.
Also known as procaine, novocaine has a similar effect to lidocaine in that it magnifies the effects of cocaine and can cause a fatal overdose.
It is extremely difficult to recognise a batch of cocaine that has been laced with novocaine, as even a taste test will produce the numbing sensation of pure cocaine.
You may feel confused, drowsy and ‘out of it’ if your cocaine contains novocaine, so if you notice these symptoms in yourself or someone else it is recommended that you seek immediate medical advice.
Once a popular painkiller and fever-reducing drug, phenacetin was removed from the market in the 70s due to its dangerous and adverse side effects.
However, it can still be found in some batches of cocaine today.
Phenacetin has been proven to be carcinogenic, meaning that it has the potential to cause cancer if ingested. It can also affect the respiratory system making it difficult to breathe and is responsible for a number of deaths related to heart failure and suffocation.
As well as medications, a number of other filler ingredients are often used to bulk out cocaine.
This makes each batch heavier, meaning that the producer is able to charge more while using less of the more expensive cocaine.
These substances look and feel similar to cocaine, so many people do not realise that they are purchasing a watered-down version of the drug.
Common filler ingredients for cocaine include:
Although the above substances may seem relatively harmless, they can all have an adverse effects when combined with cocaine.
Laundry powder, for example, contains several chemicals that can be potentially dangerous when ingested.
Although cocaine itself is an illicit substance, it may also be laced with other dangerous and illegal substances that have the potential to cause a fatal overdose. [5]
One of these is fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that was developed for use as a painkiller. In a powdered form, it looks very similar to cocaine and may be added to batches to bulk them out.
Fentanyl increases the risk of overdose as many people will take far too much, believing that they are merely ingesting cocaine.
This drug is responsible for an explosion in deaths across the United Kingdom and the United States, and you should seek medical attention immediately if you believe you have ingested fentanyl-laced cocaine.
If cocaine is laced with a poisonous ingredient, users are at high risk of death upon ingestion. This is known as a ‘death hit’ and while rare, many people have died due to adverse effects from poisonous ingredients.
Strychnine is found in rat poison and is extremely toxic to humans – however, it has also been found in many cocaine batches and can be difficult to distinguish due to its similar side effects and appearance to cocaine.
If someone has taken cocaine laced with strychnine, they will often display symptoms that mimic the side effects of cocaine including agitation, anxiety and feeling on edge.
Strychnine can be fatal in as little as 15 minutes, so if you notice that you or someone you know is struggling to breathe after taking cocaine you should seek medical assistance immediately.
A less-common poisonous ingredient sometimes found in cocaine is arsenic, which is also deadly to humans if consumed or ingested. You should also seek medical assistance straight away if you believe you have ingested arsenic in any form.
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2211431/
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6474566/
Boris is our editor-in-chief at Rehab 4 Addiction. Boris is an addiction expert with more than 20 years in the field. His expertise covers a broad of topics relating to addiction, rehab and recovery. Boris is an addiction therapist and assists in the alcohol detox and rehab process. Boris has been featured on a variety of websites, including the BBC, Verywell Mind and Healthline. You can connect with Boris online at LinkedIn or X.com.
