City
Epaper

People taking ‘Tusi’ drug at higher risk of adverse effects: Study

By IANS | Updated: April 21, 2025 14:32 IST

New York, April 21 A new study on Monday estimated that in 2024, 2.7 per cent of electronic ...

Open in App

New York, April 21 A new study on Monday estimated that in 2024, 2.7 per cent of electronic dance music-nightclub attending adults in New York City (NYC) used ‘Tusi’ drug in the past year, with higher use among Hispanic people and people who use other drugs.

‘Tusi’, also known as ‘tucibi’ or ‘pink cocaine’, is a drug concoction that emerged in Latin America and Europe within the past decade and is becoming increasingly popular in the US.

According to the study published in the scientific journal Addiction, consumers often don’t understand what ‘Tusi’ is when they take it.

Tusi is commonly confused with the 2C family of drugs – psychedelics – because it is a phonetic translation of “2C”. Tusi is also commonly called “tucibí” or “tusibí” (the phonetic translation of 2C-B, a particular type of psychedelic). And it is also often called “pink cocaine” (“cocaina rosada” in Spanish). All of these names have the potential to confuse people who use, who may believe they are taking a psychedelic drug or largely unadulterated cocaine.

In fact, Tusi is a drug mixture that rarely contains 2C family of drugs (or psychedelics) and most commonly contains ketamine and MDMA (ecstasy), sometimes in combination with cocaine. And therein lies the potential danger.

The study surveyed a sample of 1,465 adults attending 124 electronic dance music events hosted by NYC nightclubs from January through November 2024.

Participants took a survey on an electronic tablet before entering the nightclub. The survey results were used to estimate prevalence of Tusi use among all people who attended an electronic dance music event at a NYC nightclub in 2024.

People who use illicit drugs are often at risk of using drugs adulterated or even replaced by other drugs.

“But ‘Tusi’ puts people who use drugs at an even higher risk, partly because it is easily confused with two other types of drugs – 2C series or cocaine – and partly because Tusi is pretty much always a concoction of various drugs. This greatly increases the risk of adverse or unexpected effects,” said lead author Dr Joseph Palamar, of NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Open in App

Related Stories

NationalHindu groups in Bhopal call for protest against 'love-jihad' today

InternationalTrump nominates Mike Waltz as UN ambassador, announces Marco Rubio as national security adviser

NationalHindu activist murder case: Police deployed to Karnataka's Mangaluru; three teams hunt for accused

NationalAnother Nepali female student found dead at KIIT University in Bhubaneswar

InternationalHegseth extends Rajnath Singh 'strong support' on Pahalgam terrorist attack

Technology Realted Stories

TechnologyZoho CEO Sridhar Vembu has no ‘confidence in tech’, shelves $700 million chip plan

TechnologyYouTube commits Rs 850 crore to power India’s ‘Creator Nation’: CEO Neal Mohan

TechnologyApple clocks 28 pc growth in iPhone shipments in India: Industry data

TechnologyNHRC asks 11 states to boost measures to prevent heat-related deaths

TechnologyNRAI and ONDC refute speculative reports, reaffirm strong partnership