Tussi - A sobering look at Colombia's party drug

I think it’s time we dispel a few misconceptions that first time visitors have when visiting Medellin for the first time. The first one is probably thanks to the sordid past of Medellin, but the other is probably thanks to Netflix and their series “Narcos”, where they breathed new life into the legend of Pablo Escobar, and glorified him, while trying to humanize him. A new generation learned about many of his exploits while putting a positive spin on it all, including glossing over the Avianca bombing and reported tens of thousands of deaths he is responsible for in Colombia, but mostly in the Aburra valley.

What it did was show a generation of young men that Medellin is a destination for them to come and live their “Narcos” fantasy. There is a divide in Medellin about what side of the moral line Escobar is on. If you can read subtext, you know what side I am on.

Dispelling the first misconception

The first misconception is that When you’re in Medellin, all of the parties must be giant Tony Montana final scene of Scarface parties. Many think that everyone here has cocaine, and they put it in their coffee instead of sugar. Hate to break it to you, but most paisa don’t like cocaine. The general feeling is that cocaine is for the idiotic tourists that come here. I’m going to give away a paisa secret - When you come here and ask for cocaine, they think less of you. So, my pro-tip is that if you are coming here for business, DON’T ask your hosts to source you cocaine. You will be made fun of, and never taken seriously again.

The other part of this is that in Colombia, there are party drugs. Though cocaine is making a party drug resurgence in the US and Europe, Colombians are content with being the supplier of cocaine for your parties in Miami. What you’ll find here is much more ominous, and 14 men have found out the hard way how bad this drug is. It’s call 2CB or Tussi for short. It is pink or purple, and powdered, and uninitiated tourists call it “Pink Cocaine”, but I assure you that the delivery method is where the similarities end.

Tussi - The sweet pink killer

2C-B (4-Bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine) is a synthetic psychoactive drug developed in 1974 by chemist Alexander Shulgin, it was initially intended as a therapeutic aid in psychotherapy. However, it later gained popularity as a recreational substance due to its unique effects, which blend elements of both MDMA (ecstasy) and psychedelics like LSD or psilocybin mushrooms.

In modern times it stays relatively similar to Mr. Shulgin’s formulation, however now it is mixed with ketamine, MDMA and amphetamines. The makers also mix in sweetened fruit drink mix to give it their own signature ‘flavor’, which helps them with branding. The typical variants are cherry, strawberry and grape flavors. It’s easily available in all of Colombia, but this has also moved out into other LATAM countries. It is becoming the top party drug in Argentina as well, more on that later.

But is it REALLY that bad?

This is a question asked frequently, and I’ll give you the short answer, yes. Before the uninitiated scoff at me for being weak, 14 high profile deaths in Medellin have all had 2 things in common, one they suspiciously “fell” off a balcony, and the other is that they have all had a fatal mix of alcohol, cocaine and tussi in their system. When you come here for a weekend and want to stuff as many drugs as you can in your nose for a weekend, you have zero tolerance built up and the liquor and cocaine are giving you a false sense of being ready to keep going.

A little information for the uninitiated here - If you drink alcohol and get drunk, but then do a bump or line of cocaine, your body feels sobered up. Most idiots keep drinking, and when they start to feel drunk again, they take a trip to the bathroom, and come back ready to party more. The problem is that the cocaine doesn’t truly sober you up, it just kicks the can down the road a bit. When the cocaine wears off, you will feel every drink you had up to that point. Cocaine is the ultimate illusion, it makes you chase that feeling all night, and keep taking it. Next thing you know it’s 5AM, the sun is coming up and you’re looking around for more because you don’t want to be slapped in the face with the reality of how much you drank.

Here is the dangerous part. Most people who come here for parties with the desire to do cocaine, ultimately end up at least trying tussi. Because they usually meet party girls and they are doing it, so if a tiny girl can handle it, a big tough guy can too. No, you can’t. They have built a tolerance to it, and the effects hit you like a ton of bricks in comparison. The biggest difference is that tussi and alcohol in quantity don’t provide a happy response. For most people the effects of the ketamine put you in what’s called a k-hole. If you are mentally prepared for a k-hole, they still suck, and it’s a deep introspection that in most cases haunt you for weeks after. If you’re not prepared the effects can be devastating. This is where the dangers of Colombian partying come in. If you are playing the alcohol/cocaine salsa dance, and you add tussi, you go into a dark place, and FAST.

I know what I’m doing

This is the mantra of the stupid. I really hope my mom isn’t reading this, but during the COVID lockdown, I was kind of hit with alot of life changing news all at once. A friend was coming from out of town, and had rented a finca for a night. There were going to be a bunch of people there and he invited me. I needed a get away, and I agreed to go. The vibe of the party was great, it was fun and I was drinking Jameson enjoying life. Halfway through the night, one of the girls at the party offered me tussi. I tried it, but it wasn't that bad. So, I did more and by 3AM, I was sitting in the hot tub deep in a rabbit hole, and it was not good. I won’t go into everything, but one of the ideas I had was that nobody was going in the pool, and if I jumped in they’d all come in and keep the party going.

But that wasn’t going to cut it. I needed to do something grand to get them all onboard. So I went to the second floor balcony which overlooked the pool, and had my “I’m a golden god” moment. I jumped into the pool from what I thought was a second story. No, it was the 3rd story. Most Colombian pools are shallow, but thankfully this one is 4m deep, keeping me from shattering my legs. Here is the thing, In that moment, I didn’t care. I looked down, knew what the risks were and just thought, fuck it, full send. Everyone else in the party, also high and drunk thought it was the coolest thing and that was that.

Flash forward to current day. In 2024 alone, there have been 48 reported deaths of foreign tourists falling to their deaths. In the early part of the year the deaths were due to robberies by drugging gone wrong. But since June, the cause of deaths have shifted drastically. It started with an American tourist who jumped from a 13th story hotel balcony in Laureles. The media ran with the story that he had mental issues, and was drunk and then just inexplicably jumped, with his mother in the room no less. There have been 13 others including one that was reported on today. The Colombian media is baffled, why are these stupid gringos falling off balconies. How stupid are these gringos? Yes, many Colombians think this, because the media has failed to tell the real story. The Daily Main in the UK, told a tragic story about one of these deaths https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13628827/Ohio-man-41-dies-falling-balcony-Colombian-hotel.html

Are you sure this is the cause?

Toxicology reports are not made public in Colombia. So all of these deaths are classefied as “Accidental” deaths or overdoses. There is rumor that they are pushed off the balconies making a robbery easier, but that’s not true at all. Someone falling to their death tends to cause a commotion, and the girls that drug and rob men here want to escape as quietly as possible. Before everyone comes at me, with their personal stories of tussi parties, and the need to inflate their egos, remember that drugs, especially psychoactive drugs like cocaine and 2CB hit everyone differently.

Officially today, my suspicions were confirmed when 3 people were charged in the death of One Direction singer, Liam Payne. One was the drug dealer that provided the cocaine to him, one was a hotel employee who provided him with tussi and cocaine for his trip, and another being a drug dealer who provided him with just tussi. The thing is that not only is Liam Payne’s death a high profile case for Buenos Aires police, but Argentina does publish toxicology results in a case like this. Want to venture a guess of what was in his system at the time of death? Dangerous amounts of alcohol, cocaine and an incredibly high dose of tussi.

If you’re gonna be dumb you better be tough

This song is one of my favorites, and this is my advice also to anyone coming here to party. I need you to remember 3 very important things I will guarantee you, that you haven’t thought about, Medellin is about 4000’ above sea level, which WILL mess with your oxygen levels. The cocaine here is infinitely more powerful than what you get back home, or it’s laced with insane mixtures if you buy it on the streets (More on that later), and mixing drugs and drinking here is likely to have adverse effects on you.

Not only is being publicly drunk in a dangerous foreign land a moronic life choice from a safety perspective, it can also lead you to horrific and quite possibly tragic consequences. Don’t be dumb, because I guarantee you that you’re not as tough as you think. Please don't come here to do drugs, seriously, don't come. But if you are hellbent on destruction, be smart. No party is worth taking a header off of a balcony.