One Direction’s Liam Payne Was Taking “Pink Cocaine” Before Death

Former One Direction singer Liam Payne tragically passed away at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires last week.

Now, an initial toxicology report has revealed that the musician had taken multiple drugs, NBC News reports — including “pink cocaine,” a dangerous new concoction that more often than not is laced with the anesthetic ketamine or other illicit substances such as MDMA. In many instances, researchers have found the drug to not contain any cocaine whatsoever, despite its street name.

The party drug has grown in popularity as of late, particularly in Latin America and parts of Europe, and is often available in liquid “happy water” form as well.

The drug was also recently linked to disgraced music artist Sean “Diddy” Combs in a lawsuit filed by his former music producer Rodney Jones.

What makes pink cocaine particularly dangerous is the often unknown mix of substances within it, which can have a variety of different effects depending on the user’s body.

“To begin with, you don’t know what the substance is, but secondly, people don’t all react the same way to any drugs,” New York narcotics prosecutor Bridget Brennan told NBC News, saying it’s “very dangerous” as a result.

The drug often includes both stimulants and sedatives, which researchers say makes it particularly risky.

“If you have a drug that’s telling your heart to speed up and another drug that’s telling your heart to slow down, that’s a problem,” Brennan explained.

Beyond cardiovascular effects, depending on what it’s made of, pink cocaine can also have other problematic side effects.

“One of the things around mixtures such as this is people’s behavior might become unpredictable and they may do things that they wouldn’t have otherwise done,” Los Angeles County Department of Public Health addiction psychiatrist Brian Hurley told KABC.

The circumstances surrounding Payne’s recent death paint a troubling picture. Photos purportedly showing his hotel room showed a number of other over-the-counter medications scattered among his belongings, suggesting the singer wasn’t exclusively indulging in pink cocaine.

As the Associated Press reports, his exact levels of drug exposure are also unknown and we still don’t know how much of a role the pink cocaine played in his death.

The physical injuries he sustained, however, appear to be consistent with his fall from a third-floor balcony, and prosecutors have ruled out the involvement of anyone else.

More on ketamine: A Doctor Called Matthew Perry a “Moron” While Prescribing Him Ketamine, Which Later Killed Him