What Is 'Pink Cocaine'? What To Know About The Designer Drug Linked To Liam Payne, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.

Topline

A designer drug cocktail called "pink cocaine" that often includes ketamine, Ecstasy and psychoactive substances, but rarely includes cocaine, has been linked to the death of One Direction star Liam Payne, according to a toxicology report seen by ABC News and Argentinian outlets—and it’s is growing in popularity in U.S. cities.

Key Facts

ABC news cited unnamed sources in reporting a partial autopsy found pink cocaine, cocaine, benzodiazepine (depressants) and crack in Payne's system the night he fell to his death from a third-floor balcony, and reported an improvised aluminum pipe was found in his hotel room.

Payne isn’t the first celebrity to be pinked to “pink cocaine,” a powdered concoction that usually contains at least one stimulant drug and one depressant, according to epidemiologists who spoke to The New York Times.

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.

Pink cocaine is becoming an increasingly common find in American club scenes, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, and its seemingly random mixture of contents can make it particularly dangerous.

Pink cocaine has also been linked to Sean "Diddy" Combs—currently in jail as he awaits trial on sex trafficking and other charges—and to Instagram influencer Maecee Marie Lathers, who told police she'd used the drug before causing a fatal car crash in Miami earlier this year.

Crucial Quote

“God knows what the effects will be," Dr. David E. Nichols, a Purdue University pharmacologist who studies hallucinogen, told The New York Times of pink cocaine.

Key Background

Payne, 31, died on Oct. 16 after falling from the third floor balcony of a room at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires. Minutes before his death, the hotel manager reportedly placed a 911 call to police complaining about a guest “under the influence of drugs and alcohol” and expressing concern the guest “has a balcony, and we are afraid they might do something to put their life at risk.” Payne was found dead shortly after, and the investigation so far indicates he was under the influence and alone when he fell. Photos released from the inside of Payne's hotel room showed tin foil, powdered substances and a lighter spread across a table in the room. Autopsy results released by officials the day after his death said he died from multiple traumas, internal and external hemorrhage. On Monday, sources told ABC News he had four drugs, including pink cocaine, in his system.

Further Reading