The death of music star Liam Payne has thrust « pink cocaine, » sometimes also called Tusi, into the national spotlight. The National Drug Early Warning System predicted its rise back in 2023.
The death of music star Liam Payne. Sex trafficking allegations against Sean « Diddy » Combs. A deadly car crash involving an Instagram model. Many Americans have only recently learned of the from a deluge of celebrity horror stories. Joseph Palamar, an associate professor of population health at NYU Langone, would say they are late to the party. drug known as « pink cocaine »
« A lot of people just think it’s this new powder that’s going around », Palamar said. « It’s a pretty pink powder, and everyone’s starting to use it, when it really started increasing was around mid-2023. » « The chatter increases before a lot of poisonings occur »
When Palamar first heard of pink cocaine, his team immediately scoured posts on Reddit as part of his research for the National Drug Early Warning System. The organization specializes in narcotics surveillance and collects data on drugs that could rise in popularity and lethality.
« We’ve looked at other drugs, and what we found . is that a lot of times the chatter increases before a lot of poisonings occur », said Palamar.
Palamar explained there’s a whole community called « Psychonauts », in which people use novel drugs or induce « altered states of consciousness » and post about their experiences. For drug use, Palamar equated it to a diary to alert people to the effects of drugs.
Standing in front of a chart that resembles a stock rally on Wall Street, Palamar explained how each Reddit post about pink cocaine represents a data point he uses to better predict drug trends and warn the public.
