Cocaine and What Else?
There is an alarming trend happening with the production of cocaine. When cocaine arrives in the United States, it is normally thought to be in a relatively pure state. With every step in the distribution process, the drug is inevitably cut with various substances. This is done to provide more product to sell to maximize profits. The cutting agents commonly used are baby powder, laxatives, lidocaine and chalk. However for reasons that are still not clear, cocaine is now being cut with a dangerous drug, levamisole.
This chemical was first discovered in 1966 and was used in conjunction with chemotherapy. It was also found to be an effective cattle deworming drug. Levamisole is an immunomodulator, which means it can either rev up or depress the immune system. Agranulocytosis is a rare disorder that affects the immune system and is caused by levamisole. It can affect people in a multitude of ways, and none of them are particularly pleasant. Agranulocytosis occurs when the immune system crashes, and it can be fatal.
Once it was determined that the drug levamisole was causing this condition, the FDA removed it from the market. It is still used by farmers to deworm livestock. However an alarming trend in cocaine production has come to light. Levamisole is now being found in a majority of the cocaine that is being shipped into the country. Its use has increased from 2% to 71% since 2007 The Mystery of the Tainted Cocaine by Brendan Kiley – Features – The Stranger, Seattle’s Only Newspaper.
Law enforcement is baffled by its proliferation in the cocaine supply. Why would cocaine manufacturers use a drug to cut pure cocaine prior to shipment, when the drug is not easily obtained and can be toxic to the end user?
There are several possibilities. Levamisole is thought to have mood elevation affects of its own. Perhaps drug manufactures have chosen to use it as a cutting agent because of its mood enhancing affects, which are not unlike the stimulant effect of cocaine. When the drug is mixed with cocaine it retains its characteristic clear white appearance, and will also pass the “bleach test” which is a street test to check for impurities. Levamisole is also a useful bulking agent for crack because it is not washed away during the crack making process.
Why such a dangerous chemical is being used is still unclear in light of the harmful affects it is causing with cocaine users. This brings up some interesting questions. Should Levamisole testing kits be created to protect cocaine users from the potentially fatal affects of agranulocytosis? Local Washington organizations including the People’s Harm Reduction Alliance (PHRA) say yes. Dr. Mike Clark, who is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harborview Medical Center, has invented such a test kit. When it became evident that heroin users that shared needles were at risk for HIV, organizations began providing clean needles to protect them. U.S. drug laws however, make it illegal to test a drug for poison. A drug test kit in this circumstance is looked at like any other drug paraphernalia. Undaunted, Dr. Murphy is now leading the way to distribute levamisole kits that will include the test kit, information and research questions that will help Dr. Clark and others to gather more clues about levamisole use.
Shiloh Murphy, director of PHRA, Dr. Clark along with local author Brenden Kiley (see the aforementioned link), and DanceSafe are working together to make levamisole test kits available to those in need. Local authorities thus far are supporting the program.