Pink cocaine is a bright pink powder. It's also called tusi, tuci or tucibi. It's turning up at clubs, festivals and house parties across the UK. Despite the name, it almost never contains cocaine. Despite what people assume from the name "tusi" (a phonetic rendering of "2C-B"), it almost never contains 2C-B either. What's in it changes by batch, by supplier and by country. Not knowing is the core of why it kills.
What's actually in itThe biggest ingredient. Ketamine is a tranquilliser. It cuts you off from your own body. You end up detached from what is around you, heavily sedated, with gaps in your memory. As of 2024 it makes up nearly half the weight of many batches, and that share is still going up.
MDMA — what's in ecstasy. On its own it pushes up your heart rate, body temperature and blood pressure. Mixed with ketamine, the two amplify each other and there's no telling how it'll go.
Added to increase weight and boost the stimulant effect. Amplifies the cardiovascular strain from MDMA and any other stimulants present.
Strong stimulants that put your heart under serious strain and make paranoia and hallucinations far more likely. They also last much longer than MDMA — so the comedown drags on, and so does the danger.
Downers — including Xanax — turn up in some batches. Put together with ketamine they slow your breathing down even further. The person may appear to be sleeping. They may be losing the ability to breathe.
The DEA has confirmed fentanyl in pink powder seizures. A 2025 Miami forensic case series examining 8 deaths linked to pink cocaine found opioids in multiple samples. A person with no opioid tolerance can die from an amount too small to see.
By the numbers
UK police seizures of pink cocaine in the first six months of 2025 compared to the whole of 2024 (TICTAC data)
of 470 samples tested by Spanish authorities contained ketamine — the most common ingredient by far
of samples tested actually contained 2C-B — the drug the name implies. Almost nobody is buying what they think they're buying.
of UK police-seized samples contained cocaine. Despite the name, cocaine is almost never present.
The specific dangers
You cannot know what you're taking
No two batches are the same. The pink colour is food dye — it tells you nothing about what's inside. There is no safe dose because there is no standard formula. Every line is from a different batch with a different composition.
Overdose can look like sleep
Ketamine is a sedative. Mix it with benzos and opioids and breathing can slow right down. It looks like someone flaking out after a big night. If someone is unresponsive and breathing slowly, call 999. Do not assume they're sleeping it off.
Your heart can be in trouble before you feel it
The MDMA and meth in it drive your heart rate up. The ketamine cuts you off from feeling your own body at the same time. You can be having a heart emergency and not feel a thing. By the time you notice, it's usually already serious.
Your brain stops recording
Enough ketamine and the brain stops laying down memory. Someone can be walking, talking and answering you, and remember none of it afterwards. That's how people end up in situations they can't account for. It's why assault and exploitation are a real risk with this drug.
Hot environments amplify everything
Pink cocaine is a club drug, and MDMA already overheats the body. Dancing in a packed venue. No water. Alcohol on top. That sharply raises the risk of heatstroke and your heart giving out.
Naloxone only partially helps
If opioids are present, naloxone can reverse that component — but it won't reverse ketamine or MDMA toxicity. Carry naloxone, but always call 999 as well. Don't assume naloxone fixes everything in this mixture. Free kits: HaRRT or Renfrewshire ADP locally, or SFAD will post one anywhere in Scotland.
Where it came from and where it's going
Pink cocaine originated in Colombia in the 2010s as a genuine 2C-B product sold as an elite club drug. When 2C-B became harder to source, suppliers substituted ketamine and MDMA — keeping the pink colour as branding. The name stuck even though the contents changed completely. It spread through South America, into Spain's club scene, and is now growing rapidly across the UK.
In the UK it was a niche drug through 2024. In 2025 seizure rates doubled in six months. TICTAC tests drugs seized by UK police. Its director says pink cocaine has spread faster than any drug like it in recent years. It is moving from festivals and nightclubs into wider circulation. Scotland will not be immune to that trajectory.
If someone has taken pink cocaine and something feels wrong
Treat it as an emergency involving more than one drug, because you don't know what's in it. They could be overdosing on stimulants, on sedatives, or on both at once. How bad they look won't tell you how bad it is.
Call 999 immediately if they're unresponsive, breathing slowly, having a seizure, or complaining of chest pain. Tell the paramedics it was a pink powder — describe it as a mixed stimulant and ketamine compound if asked. If you have naloxone and opioids could be present, use it — but always call 999 as well. If you don't carry naloxone, HaRRT and Renfrewshire ADP hand out free kits. SFAD will post one anywhere in Scotland.
You can get a sample tested before you use. WEDINOS takes samples by post from anywhere in the UK. It's free and confidential.