Cocaine is one of the most used illegal substances. So much so that cocaine “cut” with byproducts is rampant and in a new report, it seems that cocaine is now being diluted from its pure form with levamisole, a cheap and widely available drug used to deworm livestock. Considering the rampant use, this could result in a tremendous health epidemic in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Justice has reported that up to 70% of cocaine in the United States is contaminated with levamisole. Once prescribed for humans, the drug was discontinued after patients who took the drug developed skin conditions similar to the cocaine users.
The new report states that patients in Los Angeles and New York who smoked or snorted cocaine diluted with the veterinary drug developed serious skin reactions.
Six patients developed patches of purple necrotic skin on their ears, nose and cheeks, as well as other parts of their body, and in some instances, the cocaine users suffered permanent scarring as a result of using the tainted drug.
Dr. Noah Craft, of the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center said:
“We believe these cases of skin reactions and illnesses linked to contaminated cocaine are just the tip of the iceberg in a looming public health problem posed by levamisole.”
Levamisole is now found in 70% of all cocaine seized in the U.S., up from 30% in 2008. Unlike most cuts, usually inert or relatively harmless substances like the B vitamin inositol, which are added by lower-level dealers looking to stretch supplies, levamisole appears to be added to cocaine from the outset, in the countries of origin.
The substance has been found in various concentrations in cocaine analyzed in countries around the world, from Switzerland to Australia. And urine tests of cocaine users attending a drug clinic at San Francisco General Hospital in 2009 found that 90% of samples were positive for levamisole; similar tests in Seattle revealed that 80% of cocaine users there had levamisole in their systems.
Initially baffled by the severity of the skin damage, Craft added that the report was published to increase awareness about these skin reactions, which could be misdiagnosed as vasculitis (a rare blood vessel autoimmune disorder), and to educate both the public and health professionals about the additional risks associated with cocaine use.
Levamisole is cheap, widely available and seems to have the right look, taste and melting point to go unnoticed by cocaine users, which may alone account for its popularity.
Levamisole also affects acetylcholine receptors throughout the body, which can boost heart rate, and studies of cocaine users show that they associate jumps in heart rate with getting high, spurring good feelings even before the drug hits the brain. A cut that accelerates heart rate might make them think they’re getting the real thing.
In the brain, levamisole may affect the same acetylcholine receptors activated by nicotine, another addictive drug that raises dopamine levels which may be another clue to levamisole’s lure.
Source: The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
Written by Sy Kraft