Flesh-eating cocaine reported in New York, L.A.
What do zombies and cocaine have it common? Both can eat your flesh.
Have you heard about the flesh-eating cocaine? Though snorted, it can eat flesh anywhere on the body.
ABC News reports the snortable drug is responsible for an outbreak of a flesh-eating disease in New York and Los Angeles.
According to an April 2011 report by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, 82 percent of street cocaine is laced with the veterinary drug levamisole, which is used to deworm cattle, pigs and sheep.
Levamisole can also rot the skin off noses, ears and cheeks, doctors says. Multiple cases of rotted flesh have already been reported.
Dealers usually use baking soda as a filler, but may have turned to the veterinary drug because it may extend the cocaine high, experts say.
Some drug users appear immune to the tainted blow, but others are severely affected. One doctor reported seeing a man whose entire body was black with dying flesh.
There’s more bad news: Levamisole also prevents the body’s creation of infection-fighting white blood cells.
“It’s a little bit like having HIV,” said Dr. Noah Craft, a dermatologist with Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute in the ABC article. “About 10 percent of those patients will die from severe infections. They may be walking around like a time bomb.”
If you ever needed a reason to quit, here’s your sign.
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98 comments Add your comment
Haley Reinhart
June 23rd, 2011
1:28 pm
So that is why my ears fell off.
Innocent Bystander
June 23rd, 2011
1:43 pm
Glad to see Darwinism is alive and well.
Chris
June 23rd, 2011
1:59 pm
I noticed when Michael Jackson was alive, it appeared that parts of his nose and cheeks were wearing away. I wonder now if it was becuase of this type of cocaine, or just the surgery going bad. We will never know now. I wonder if the cocaine is more expensive or cheaper with this substance in it? Just another reason not to do drugs.
4xtra
June 23rd, 2011
2:03 pm
Well if you are not a crack head..then you are GOOD TO GO.
Never tried it NEVER WILL
I’m cool
cracking up
June 23rd, 2011
2:12 pm
Flesh eating bacteria shouldn’t be the only reason to quit… how about just don’t get started… SMDH.. as if the drug itself didn’t cause enough damage when it was cut with baking soda but now they’ve up’ed the anti.. WOW…
Thrash
June 23rd, 2011
2:16 pm
I love it! Keep it coming! Just what idiot drug users have coming. Cull the herds.
sbagger
June 23rd, 2011
2:20 pm
Is this exactly the same story from more than a year ago:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-06-06-dirty-cocaine_N.htm
Oh, it is. Media frenzy, say hello to reefer madness 2011…
Funny, Strange, Random Pics - Page 3775 - Fires of Heaven Guild Message Board
June 23rd, 2011
2:20 pm
[...] eating cocaine… Flesh-eating cocaine reported in New York, L.A. | News To Me with George Mathis Attached Images [...]
KA
June 23rd, 2011
2:22 pm
Is this bacteria contagious? These people are easily identified and should be quarantined/arrested/removed from the public.
blue_moon
June 23rd, 2011
2:22 pm
Drugs should be legalized and regulated and drug dealers should be forced to put a picture of rotted flesh on cocaine packaging. Think it would make a difference.
Lynda Funderburke
June 23rd, 2011
2:23 pm
Does this mean as parents we don’t have to guess anymore if our kids are using or not? Just give it time and watch their face to see what turns black……….Just what I wanted to hear……..
The Ghost of Lester Maddox
June 23rd, 2011
2:35 pm
The AJC staff writers must be having a busy day…they neglected to add that, irregardless that this bad side effect is due to illegal activity, it’s still all the fault of George W. Bush…..and only a bailout program for coke snorters dreamed up by Obama can solve it. Oh, and those of us taxpayers who are against the bailout are all racists.
JoeV
June 23rd, 2011
2:40 pm
@The Ghost of Lester Maddox
irregardless (sic) huh? Wow, just wow.
joe
June 23rd, 2011
2:46 pm
Well, ain’t Karma a B-tch! Can we get this added to all other illegal drugs? Cigarettes too?
Duh
June 23rd, 2011
2:49 pm
So most likely there are a half-dozen drug companies who manufacture levamisole, and they have some very good customers from South America who pay in cash for tons of the stuff.
The laws and penalties for producing and distributing imitation controlled substances are just as bad as the real thing, and therefore the companies who sell levamisole ‘no questions asked’ are quite culpable for serious crimes.
jim demint
June 23rd, 2011
2:54 pm
Very interesting
Grammer Police
June 23rd, 2011
2:57 pm
@The Ghost of Lester Maddox: Irregardless isn’t a word. It’s just ‘regardless’. Look it up.
Bert Ernie
June 23rd, 2011
3:02 pm
“There’s more bad news: Levamisole also prevents the body’s creation of infection-fighting white blood cells.”
Why is that bad news?
itsmeagain
June 23rd, 2011
3:06 pm
OK kids, the article said nothing about bacteria, so no, it’s not contagious. You guys have got to learn to read!
woodrow
June 23rd, 2011
3:06 pm
What a horrible thing. And nobody deserves this kind of illness. So some people here are pretty horrible too with their thoughts. In fact I don’t see the difference. They are a disease too.
southgate
June 23rd, 2011
3:15 pm
Evidently cigarettes are not good for me and now this? What is next, moonshine?
Idiot Police
June 23rd, 2011
3:21 pm
It’s grammar – not grammer
southgate
June 23rd, 2011
3:27 pm
It’s a proper noun, Idiot.
Chode McBlob
June 23rd, 2011
3:33 pm
You have to be an idiot to use Cocaine anyway.
I-can't-drive-285
June 23rd, 2011
3:37 pm
Damn it. What’s the world coming to when even cocaine is bad for you now??
Samantha
June 23rd, 2011
3:40 pm
Hahahahaha! Well people should NOT do drugs anyway!
Joe Friday
June 23rd, 2011
3:43 pm
Now, if it could be engineered to rot the genitalia we could solve two problems at once.
Gives a whole new meaning to the term “killer s*it”
Father's Day with Ah-nold
June 23rd, 2011
4:00 pm
Cocaine’s a hell of a drug…..
Robert Barr
June 23rd, 2011
4:33 pm
This is terrible. What a nightmare for critical care workers. This stuff is dangerous.
Personally, I like to go down to Puerto Vallarta or Acapulco where the stuff is fresh and clean. straight from the source. You can walk into any gay bar in town and get a $50 bag that will keep you high for three days. Viva Mexico!
JM
June 23rd, 2011
4:37 pm
why would anyone want to take drugs for recreation?
coke heads better watch out - HondaSwap Forums
June 23rd, 2011
4:37 pm
[...] heads better watch out Flesh-eating cocaine reported in New York, L.A. | News To Me with George Mathis [...]
legalize now!
June 23rd, 2011
4:43 pm
This is why drugs should be legal! People that are going to take it will take it anyway. The rest of us might as well earn tax dollars off the “brothers” crack hit.
Animal187
June 23rd, 2011
4:43 pm
Ears falling off? New Verizon commerical:
Can you hear me now?
Employment Boost?
June 23rd, 2011
4:46 pm
Maybe these folks can get a job as an extra in the zombie movie that’s being filmed in Atlanta lately! There’s always a silver lining.
Chadd Derkins
June 23rd, 2011
4:49 pm
How has nobody commented that “Chris” might be the stupidest human being alive, with that comment about Michael Jackson?
legalize now!
June 23rd, 2011
4:51 pm
Dude, you spell Chad with two “d”’s you would have to be a close 2nd.
Eric
June 23rd, 2011
5:12 pm
This won’t make a difference to anyone that uses cocaine… Does the threat of lung cancer keep smokers away from their cigarettes?
troll
June 23rd, 2011
5:34 pm
Fake and gay
T
June 23rd, 2011
5:47 pm
If the drug users didn’t stop when they learned the pushers was holding crack in their rectum, what makes you think this little hiccup is going to stop them. Those users will stop at nothing to get that stuff in their body.
juiceefruit
June 23rd, 2011
6:06 pm
Do not do DRUGS…I have important items to spend my hard earned money on..shelter, food, utilities, transportation, life. Who are these people? Seriously though, I cannot judge them, I will pray for them…PEACE
Bob Smith
June 23rd, 2011
6:11 pm
If we stopped all this nonsense and just legalized drugs we would have more revenue and all of these types of problems would go away. Face facts, PEOPLE WANT DRUGS. Always have, always will.
Larry
June 23rd, 2011
6:32 pm
No, Bob, people like YOU want drugs. Always have, always will…until you die!
The voice
June 23rd, 2011
6:37 pm
Bob is right. I have used and I am clean now and glad to be that way. But cocaine has been around for centuries. It is not going to go away. There will always be some people that use it. Anyone can be an addict, and once they start, they will not stop until they make that personal choice. Legalizing it will mean government regulation that will at least stop garbage like this from hurting people that you know and love.
jahody
June 23rd, 2011
6:38 pm
drugs are bad, mkayy?
SpareFoot
June 23rd, 2011
7:22 pm
“Drugs should be legalized and regulated and drug dealers should be forced to put a picture of rotted flesh on cocaine packaging. Think it would make a difference.”
If drugs were legalized and regulated, cocaine wouldn’t rot people’s flesh off. It would still be bad for you, but it probably wouldn’t be cut with dewormer.
Yellowtops. I've got yellowtops
June 23rd, 2011
7:41 pm
Hey Addicts,
Is the high worth it if things that you need fall off? If you EVAH needed a reason to quit. This is the one! Now the dealers have done it, They’ve given a junkie a reason to move away from their product. They used to be smart enough to get you hooked, now they want to get rid of their customers.
ChadK
June 23rd, 2011
11:59 pm
@ Idiot Police Re: Grammer Police
“It’s grammar – not grammer”
It’s always the dimmest bulbs that are unable to discern when they have been baited, and they’ll never be any the wiser, unfortunately.
sala bizzle
June 24th, 2011
12:39 am
Atleast its not flesh eating marijuana. LOL
Mr Shmetel
June 24th, 2011
1:35 am
But I love cocaine!
tspec
June 24th, 2011
3:15 am
My dumba$$ doctor didn’t have a clue why my ears fell off!!!!!! Thanks AJC!
Flesh-eating cocaine reported in New York, L.A. | News To Me with George Mathis « THE LOWE DOWN
June 24th, 2011
3:15 am
[...] [...]
DCSTAN
June 24th, 2011
5:26 am
Rick James said it best, Cocaine is a hell of a drug
ChadK
June 24th, 2011
7:03 am
@ 4xtra “Well if you are not a crack head..then you are GOOD TO GO. Never tried it NEVER WILL
I’m cool”
You idiot. Crack is made from the same powder cocaine that contains levamisole. You don’t have to smoke crack to get the levamisole in your system. You can snort the powder, or cook it up and shoot it intravenously and get the same ill effect. Just how imperceptive are you?
You don’t have to indulge in the drugs to know how the system works anyway. The cocaine comes into America, and it is stepped on (i.e. cut with fillers) along the way. In this case however, according to other sources like Seattle’s “The Stranger”, the anomaly is that the cocaine is already cut w/ levamisole before it reaches US soil, which is typically not the case.
I’m not sure if you are a businessperson, and I am surely not, but my limited knowlege leads me to conclude that dead customers don’t make for good repeat business. At least not those that die immediately as opposed to slowly during the course of their addiction.
Think about what you wrote before actually thinking about it and then think about it again. You will be too dumbfounded to write anything afterwards, actually.
Litt
June 24th, 2011
11:07 am
Bill Clinton heard about the flesh eating cocaine and just laughed.
That man is immune to every toxin and communicable disease know to medicine.
Frying Pan
June 24th, 2011
11:23 am
Looks like it just got a whole lot easier to ID drug users.
And, since it will be much easier to ID drug users,
it will much easier to find the drug sellers.
Just follow the “bread crumbs” of rotting body parts falling off.
Diego
June 24th, 2011
11:43 am
“…82 percent of street cocaine is laced with the veterinary drug levamisole, which is used to deworm cattle, pigs and sheep.”
The flesh rotting part sucks for sure. But hey, at least they won’t have worms.
Zac Rinehart
June 24th, 2011
1:08 pm
Hey hayley we should have us some inbred babies
No drugs here
June 24th, 2011
1:14 pm
You take drugs? You might as well carve a large sign on your forehead saying, “ME SO STUPID.”
I have NO sympathy. Drugs ruin lifes. Period! Druggies deserve all the anguish, horror and multilation they get. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!
left/right? who cares?
June 24th, 2011
2:34 pm
ummmm, chadk? get a grip. you talk like a dealer. you seem very familiar with the terms. i agree with 4extra, dont do drugs, never have, hopefully never will. you do your business chadk, just stay away from my family. dolt!
Roberta Smugton.
June 24th, 2011
5:58 pm
Well, goodness gracious, it just serves those dirty drug users right, now doesn’t it? What with their evil intoxificationing and drugifying nastiness – they’re a burden on the rest of us GOD fearing folk. Come to think of it, this may just be the LORD’s wrath, mighten it? I don’t know which part of the good book tells us cocaine use is bad but I’m pretty sure its in there. Maybe one of the other good people posting here can find the righteous passage that tells us so. Well, now that I’ve done vocalized my part, I think I’ll enjoy a nice drink – maybe a red wine would be nice. I do have to be careful though, my doctor said it may conflictificate with my depression pills and cause me to microwave little Billy, wouldn’t want that now, he’s such a good boy.
Kalcey C
June 24th, 2011
9:31 pm
That’s why I only smoke natural herbs! lol
vuduchld
June 24th, 2011
10:54 pm
Yikes!! Me thinks you Tea Beggers snort too much!!!
for real?
June 25th, 2011
12:09 am
Did some of you people actually read the article? What causes the abrasions is a veterinary drug called Levimasole that drug dealers use to cut the cocaine before they deal it. They say it extends the high. IT IS NOT AN INFECTIOUS FLESH EATING BACTERIA.
READ THE ARTICLE BEFORE YOU COMMENT.
Carl
June 25th, 2011
3:28 am
thats why you dont buy the cheap Sh*t
UncleRukkus
June 25th, 2011
12:50 pm
My eyes must be deceivin’ me. That cocaine sho duz lighten the skin from that dewormin’ addativ. Cuz I never seen a ear turn that purple on a Black man befo in my life! They might not be able’a save dat eayah, but a’leece he gat his skin lightened a lil’ bit. Hell… he don’t need da’ ear no way. We all know they don’t kno how’ta listen to nobody anyhow.
OneRyder
June 25th, 2011
4:56 pm
Can’t wait till they put this in booze. I’m sure we’ll see more Darwinism revealed. Yup, one shot of tequila and the tip of your nose turns black. Yet many will keep drinking.
Joe Blow
June 25th, 2011
9:30 pm
Drug pushers, transporters, and manufacturers should be killed when caught. Your caught, your guilty, your dead. That is the way it should be. Reduce prison crowding. Don’t worry about drug dealers getting out only to get back into dealing. Kill them and it’s done.
Sandra
June 26th, 2011
8:22 am
Could not agree more….
Coke adds Life !!!
June 26th, 2011
4:52 pm
Does anybody even care that Coca Cola is still the largest purchaser of cocaine EVER !!!
shannon
June 26th, 2011
10:59 pm
the sad part is, is that this won’t get an addict to quit. sh*t do you know how many OD and then go back for more when the get releaased from the hospital? ……..MOST of them
proud-to-not-be-one-of-you
June 28th, 2011
9:51 am
Already knew it rots the inside. Now it rots the outside as well. And people pay for the privilege? Stupid Americans.
greyseas
June 29th, 2011
11:52 am
drugs should be legalized and regulated so these types of problems don’t happen. drugs aren’t going to go away. and for those of you who say drugs are bad and drug users are idiots… i guess we should assume you don’t ever consume alcohol? alcoholism can be just as bad, if not worse than other drug addictions.
Branduff
June 29th, 2011
4:53 pm
Desomorphine, (Krokodil) is more gruesome, but this is kind of scarier. Especially considering how long Levamisole has been in our nation’s Cocaine supply. Of course my tap-water is radioactive, along with a myriad of other contaminants. God bless America, and welcome to Pensacola.
HaHa Cokies
June 29th, 2011
7:57 pm
Charlie Sheen survived… so can you!!
AuntAvis
June 29th, 2011
10:02 pm
I’ve experienced the flesh rotting side effect. It is actually pretty amazing. As the skin rots off it drops you into a hallucinogenic state. Colors are more vivid and fractal like patterns emerge from the sky.
Ahkmed Mulashi
June 29th, 2011
10:04 pm
Esther
June 29th, 2011
10:07 pm
@Aunt Avis : you dumb hippie, stick to marijuana and mushrooms. If you want to abuse something with medicinal value, buy a nitrous tank.
over dumb comments
June 29th, 2011
11:53 pm
to all these knobs saying sucked in etc etc, get a life. some people dont have the silver platter life that u winging snobs do and drugs become a way of coping, with negative ribbish coming out of your mouths like that, u r the ones who deserve this sort of thing, yes u closed minded, winging loserswho want a censored dull cotton wool wrapped life you deserve a sick tradgedy like this to occur to you and then have people saying sucked in to you. get a life ppl
SQL, 6.30.11
June 30th, 2011
11:46 am
[...] another reason not to do cocaine. According to an April 2011 report by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, 82 percent of street [...]
mud roy
June 30th, 2011
6:13 pm
Well, it should make it easy to identify the cocaine users. That would probably be a hard thing to hide. Night of the living dead all over again! People should be able to get high on life! I am! Happy fourth to all of you people! Remember, don’t drink and drive!
johhny hopkins
June 30th, 2011
8:44 pm
dont knock it til you try it! cocaine drops the panties!!!!!!!!!!!!
DAVID FOREMAN
July 1st, 2011
1:20 am
Enter your comments here
Beverly
July 1st, 2011
3:48 am
This is a perfect way of saying dont do drugs,stay off drugs,say no to drugs and just be free and clean.
Phil, Ohio
July 1st, 2011
6:45 am
I suggest people look-up “Levamisole”, Levamisole is a cancer (antineoplastic) medication. Levamisole interferes with the growth of cancer cells and slows their growth and spread in the body.
Serena
July 1st, 2011
3:27 pm
Nobody deserves this, and some of you need to get out of the boondocks/rainbowland and realize that it’s not just “junkies” that this may be affecting. What about the one college guy who decided to be a little risky at that frat party…people bungee jump too. Would you say “serves them right” if the chord broke and they smashed their heads open?
marie
July 1st, 2011
9:55 pm
this is crazy if this is true this should make a whole lot of ppl quit doing drugs NOT they still will take that chance because they are thinking about that high not danger thats why they are on it in the first place
Reality ... meet Serena
July 5th, 2011
3:13 am
“Would you say “serves them right” if the chord broke and they smashed their heads open?”
Why yes Serena .. I would . The fact that doing stupid stuff or taking risk can result in horrible mutilation or death shouldn’t really be a shocker … unless you have lived in a cloistered reality impaired bubble all your life . Reality doesn’t care how “cool” you think you are … how “bad” you pretend to be to your moronic friends … or for that matter … how “cute” you are .
Do things like this still need to be explained to people old enough to log onto a computer and post a comment here ?
james elliott
July 5th, 2011
6:30 am
This is actually an epidemic of a heroin type drug made in itchens of russia. Look up Krockodil in you tube. It eats flesh to bone. Made from over the counter codiene in russia.
Jim
April
July 6th, 2011
4:36 pm
So this is how we fight the war on drugs……
No Name Please
July 6th, 2011
9:19 pm
If some people think cocaine and crack are a government conspiracy, what will they say about this ?
Just say no
July 7th, 2011
10:45 am
The only kind of Coke I like is brown and comes in a glass over ice.
Jennifer
July 7th, 2011
10:29 pm
Your ignorance, dear self-righteous ones, is astounding.
Two Pox
July 8th, 2011
4:39 am
coke heads are self righteous ? who knew ????
Bree
July 10th, 2011
8:45 pm
Can this happen to you if you only do it once? My friend did it a few nights ago, but only one line and now she’s freaking out. Can anyone help answer my question please?
Becca
August 11th, 2011
9:01 am
Good morning everyone! I will definitely be praying for the ones who are still using drugs! In my past, I have used drugs myself but now I am completely clean and have been for a while now and I WILL NOT ever go back to that life style at all! That is the absolute worse life ever that anyone could live, being hooked on drugs! It is a disease, a sickness, and until the people who are addicted want to quit, they WON’T quit! This article is very terrible and crazy that people are putting dewormer for animals in the drugs but people who are addicted to cocaine, even after reading this article, don’t care about their bodies or reading stuff like this, they will still just continue to use which is terrible and very unfortunate!! Like I said, I will be praying for those who still use drugs and there is such a better life away from that stuff! My husband and I both have a great and wonderful life now, God has blessed us so much! Until someone hits rock bottom or that place in their life that will make them open their eyes and realize that how their living is NOT a life and they are miserable and depressed, then they will stop using! It is sad to say but some may never stop!
Becca
August 11th, 2011
9:02 am
Good morning everyone! I will definitely be praying for the ones who are still using drugs! In my past, I have used drugs myself but now I am completely clean and have been for a while now and I WILL NOT ever go back to that life style at all! That is the absolute worse life ever that anyone could live, being hooked on drugs! It is a disease, a sickness, and until the people who are addicted want to quit, they WON’T quit! This article is very terrible and crazy that people are putting dewormer for animals in the drugs but people who are addicted to cocaine, even after reading this article, don’t care about their bodies or reading stuff like this, they will still just continue to use which is terrible and very unfortunate!! Like I said, I will be praying for those who still use drugs and there is such a better life away from that stuff! My husband and I both have a great and wonderful life now, God has blessed us so much! Until someone hits rock bottom or that place in their life that will make them open their eyes and realize that how their living is NOT a life and they are miserable and depressed, then they will stop using! It is sad to say but some may never stop!
Eric Moore
October 10th, 2011
3:20 pm
Ouch, sounds like people need to get Help A.S.A.P.
The problem is that this wouldn’t even scare the addict.
David
January 1st, 2012
2:12 pm
Are you guys for real? Most of these comments fall to sub-human levels of care and concern. Yes, street drugs are illegal and those who use them are kinda asking for what they get. But consider this, it’s just as easy to alter legal drugs and has been happening for years. Where’s the outrage? I’m a recovering addict(many years) and I know the heartbreak and struggles that those who are afflicted are experiencing. Those of you who are joking about this are simply uninvolved and/or oblivious. To make racial statements and unfounded observations concerning this topic proves this to be true. What if this was happening to someone you love? Wake up people and get involved with something positive that may bring relief to these people or anyone else who may be less well off than yourself.