• What Is Levamisole? Levamisole is a veterinary drug used to deworm animals now being used as a filler in cocaine. Cutting Cocaine. Levamisole is finding its way into the cocaine supply because it’s a cheap filler that allows drug dealers to boost profits. It’s so common, in fact, that some cheaper cocaine contains up to 90 percent filler.
• Recent findings from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, indicate that those who take cocaine cut with the animal anti-worming agent, levamisole, could experience a toxic effect on the brain. Therefore, as argued by the researchers, programs that are checking drugs such as the cocaine contaminant, levamisole, should be expanded.

This is a procedure to remove ephedrine, amphetamine, and caffeine from your cocaine. I no longer do coke, but this was well written and may come in handy for those who do. If you're gonna use it, u might as well clean it first. I have personally spent many hours and many dollars in search of what I consider to be the 'holy grail' of cocaine. Cocaine’s drug class makes it a central nervous system stimulant, so it answers the question of is cocaine a stimulant. It is a schedule II substance under the Controlled Substances Act, which means that it has a high potential for abuse but can be administered by a doctor for medical uses, mainly as a local anesthetic.

The serious side effects of cocaine laced with a veterinary drug has prompted a nationwide health alert.

The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued a warning to substance abuse treatment centers, medical professionals and other public health authorities about the dangers of cocaine laced with levamisole, a drug used to prevent parasites in cattle, sheep and swine.

Levamisole was once used in human medicine to treat autoimmune disease and cancer, but is no longer approved for use in humans. Mixing the veterinary drug with cocaine causes agranulocytosis, a serious and often fatal blood disorder that reduces a person’s white blood cells, suppressing immune function and the body’s ability to fight infections.

Levamisole Effects In Cocaine Mental

The symptoms of agranulocytosis appear rapidly, and include the following:

• High fever, chills or weakness
• Swollen glands
• Painful sores in the mouth and anus
• An infection that won’t go away or that quickly gets worse
• Thrush (a white coating of the mouth, tongue or throat)
• Pneumonia
• Skin infections or abscesses

An Increasing Problem

SAMHSA officials are unclear how and why levamisole is showing up in cocaine. The amount of cocaine laced with levamisole in the United States has been increasing since 2002, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Samples of cocaine that were analyzed in July found that nearly 80 percent contained the veterinary drug, according to SAMHSA.

An Aug. 31 Associated Press article reported that levamisole began showing up frequently in cocaine from Columbia beginning in January 2008, and that, by late 2008, the DEA found the laced cocaine being widely circulated. Nearly 30 percent of all U.S. cocaine seizures are laced with the drug, according to an AP review of DEA documents.

Don LeGatt, a clinical toxicologist at the University of Alberta who has studied levamisole in cocaine, told the AP that the drug elevates opiate levels in the brain, much like morphine and codeine. “Once you get those elevated, people tend to feel fairly comfortable and not too bad,” he said.

It may also increase dopamine levels in the brain, providing users of laced cocaine with a more intense high than they would get through cocaine that has not been tainted, reported the AP.

Immediate Treatment Necessary

SAMHSA is informing substance abuse treatment providers, clinicians, outreach workers and users of cocaine that agranulocytosis is a very serious illness that needs to be treated at a hospital. Because levamisole shows up in urine for only a few days after exposure, it is important to do any relevant tests as soon as possible.

The AP reported that most physicians know almost nothing about the risks of cocaine laced with levamisole, and cited LeGatt as saying that doctors should consider exposure to levamisole when otherwise healthy adults or newborns come down with infections due to low white blood cell counts.

SAMHSA reports 20 cases of agranulocytosis, including two deaths. Agranulocytosis can show up in users who snort, smoke or inject crack or powder cocaine contaminated by levamisole.

On This Page:

What’s a drug used to de-worm pets doing in much of our nation’s cocaine supply? The experts don’t know, but they are aware of its potentially deadly consequences.

A drug approved to treat cancer and used to de-worm animals is being added to the nation’s cocaine supply, and public health officials are puzzled as to why it’s happening, according to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal.

On Dec. 18, 2010, the Center for Disease Control released its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) focusing on the devastating effects levamisole can have, including a potentially fatal immune system disorder called agranulocytosis. The report shows that 21 cases – one leading to death – were linked to the use of cocaine in a 20-month period.

Remove Levamisole From Coke

Levamisole in Cocaine

The experts aren’t clear on why the U.S. cocaine supply is being cut with levamisole, which is often used as a de-worming drug by veterinarians, but the CDC notes that approximately 69 percent of cocaine seized on its way into the country contains the substance, according to Drug Enforcement Agency figures. Some speculate that cocaine producers or suppliers think that the agents enhance the drug’s effects or limit its side effects.

“Cocaine achieves its psychoactive effects by increasing dopamine concentrations in the euphoric centers of the brain, and animal studies have found that levamisole also increases dopamine levels in these regions,” according to a paper produced by the Annals of Internal Medicine and cited by the Wall Street Journal. “We speculate that levamisole may potentiate the euphoric effects of cocaine by further increasing brain dopamine levels.”

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