Days after Liam Payne’s sudden death, fans are still grappling with the reality that the former One Direction band member is no more.
The 31-year-old fatally fell from a third floor hotel balcony in Argentina, with multiple reports revealing that he had a toxic mixture of drugs in his system at the time of his death.
“A cocktail of drugs called “pink cocaine”-containing methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA- had been found during a partial autopsy, along with crack cocaine and benzodiazepine,” The Guardian noted, citing TMZ and ABC News.
“The final toxicology results are not expected to be made public for some weeks.”
What is pink cocaine?
Payne isn’t the first celebrity to be linked to the deadly drug.
“The mixture often contains [ketamine], the anesthetic with hallucinogenic effects blamed in “Friends” star Matthew Perry’s death, mixed with Ecstasy, methamphetamine, opioids or other substances,” Forbes reports in an explainer.
The dangerous drug has also been linked to embattled Hip-hop mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, who is currently awaiting trial for sex trafficking and other charges.
Dr Peter Chin-Hong spoke to Fox News about what exactly pink cocaine is, describing it to the news outlet as a cocktail of drugs- “and that’s what makes it really dangerous.”
“It’s not standardized so you don’t really know what you’re getting… It has no cocaine in it per se, but it has a combination of other drugs,” he said, adding that the common ones include those mentioned above on The Guardian’s report.
The doctor further noted that both ketamine and methamphetamine can make you see things that are not there, or feel things- they are hallucinogenic.
Ketamine, he said, in high doses, can also make you unconscious.
When probed about how much of a difference there can be in each un-standardized batch of pink cocaine, Dr Chin-Hong said: “It can be a huge difference, a huge difference in price, in the components. It’s a new generation designer drug, so there are a lot of homemade recipes available online. It had its origins in the 70s but didn’t really pick up until 2010.”
The Guardian notes that those who use it are typically chasing euphoria and enhanced sensory perception.
“When compared to other stimulants like methamphetamine or synthetic drugs like ecstasy (MDMA), pink cocaine offers a unique combination of stimulant and hallucinogenic effects….It is an easy drug to overdose on.”
