Some people still get very ill because of cocaine contaminated with levamisole. (It’s a toxic substance for de-worming animals, added by cocaine producers.) Most people doing cocaine do not react, however, people who do can have severe infections or sickness.
The Cocaine Trade. Fish-scale sheen of pure cocaine, making it easier to visually pass off levamisole. Levamisole is a bulking agent for crack. The Mystery of the Tainted Cocaine. • Something about the chemical structure of levamisole retains the iridescent fish. The process of making crack involves.
• Most crack/cocaine contains levamisole. You can’t tell if it’s there by looking at it, smelling or tasting. • It doesn’t matter how you used the cocaine, or what type it is. If You Have Any of These Symptoms, Go to the Hospital Emergency Room Immediately Skin Conditions Dark skin patches appear on your body. At first, it looks like a bruise, then it gets darker and forms scabs. The skin can die, and start to come off.
Mid phase skin lesions Infections Rapid onset of fever, chills, sore throat, and/or pneumonia (fever, chills, shortness of breath, coughing). Your Symptoms Can Be Treated. Get Help Now! • Tell the hospital staff that you use cocaine/crack and that you are worried that your symptoms are from levamisole. They need all the facts to help you, and they need to see you quickly. • You can get better with treatment.
However, if you’re sensitive to levamisole, the illness might come back if you use cocaine or crack again. More Information • • Call:, at 416-392-0520.
It has long been a practice, particularly among street-level dealers, to 'cut' cocaine with diluents in order to increase profits. In the past, cuts have commonly been fairly innocuous materials, such as lactose, mannitol, or niacinamide, chosen because they match the appearance of cocaine, or chemicals such as benzocaine, lidocaine, or procaine, chosen because they cause a localized numbing effect similar to that produced by cocaine.
However, in recent years there has been an upsurge in the use of more pharmacologically active chemicals as cocaine adulterants, including compounds such as acetaminophen, atropine, caffeine, hydroxyzine, methylephedrine, diltiazem, methylphenidate (Ritalin), and phenacetin. [DEA microgram 2004] [Vroegop 2009] [Elias 2007] One of the more concerning adulterants that has become increasingly prevalent over the last few years is levamisole, a pharmaceutical veterinary dewormer and a research immunomodulator. Cocaine Adulterants.
Levamisole is Not New Although levamisole has been a known adulterant in cocaine since at least 2002, [SAMHSA 2009] on September 21, 2009, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) made the surprising announcement that levamisole had been found in 'over 70 percent of the illicit cocaine analyzed [by the DEA] in July. In addition, a recent analysis in Seattle, Washington found that almost 80 percent of the individuals who test positive for cocaine also test positive for levamisole.' [SAMHSA 2009] Following the SAMHSA alert, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) also sent out an email alert, which claimed that levamisole was found in over 50% of cocaine samples tested in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands during a period in 2009. [Ventura 2009] Previous reports by the DEA and testing conducted by a number of other organizations had shown levamisole present in cocaine, but in a much smaller percentage of tested samples than reported by the DEA in August/September 2009. For example, in October 2008, the DEA reported detecting levamisole in 30% of the bricks of cocaine that they analyzed, [DEA Microgram Oct 2008] and Health Canada reported 11% of cocaine samples from April to December 2008 were contaminated with levamisole.
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