Cancer warning for cocaine users planning a ‘white’ Christmas

A CANCER-CAUSING drug pulled off shelves in the 1980s is being mixed into cocaine shipped into Australia, in a concerning warning for partygoers planning a “white Christmas”.

Phenacetin was a common ingredient of one-time headache drug Bex, but was banned worldwide almost 40 years ago after its links to deadly cancer and kidney problems were discovered by an Australian-based doctor.

But the banned drug has made a return this year, with the Australian Federal Police finding traces of it in the more than 450kg of the drug it has seized this year.

In addition to Phenacetin, traces of Levamisole – a worming agent used on animals – have also shown up as drug dealers add in additional substances to “cut” down the purity of cocaine and boost their profits.

“Drugs are often cut to a low purity using a range of potent chemicals and fillers,’’ AFP forensic operations commander Paula Hudson said.

“Phenacetin, a drug that is banned in most countries because it causes cancer and damages kidneys, is also being added to cocaine in a bid to boost the profits of illicit drug dealers.

“Levamisole, an animal worming agent that can cause serious skin infections in humans, is often detected in cocaine, which is mainly produced in the Americas.”

Australia’s hunger for cocaine sees an estimated 5.6 tonnes of the drug consumed annually across the country.

That level of demand is an increase of 80 per cent over the last five years with production in South America – in particular the cocaine heartlands of Colombia and Peru – jumping by 50 per cent to match.

With the Christmas party season expected to be extra busy after a year impacted by lockdown, doctors are warning that the impact of dangerous mixed-in substances can be severe.

“Phenacetin was part of Bex powder and there was an ad at one point that was, ‘take a Bex and go lie down’, and it was an active ingredient in that,” said Professor Karen Dwyer, clinical director at Kidney Health Australia.

“Professor Priscilla KincaidSmith made the link in the 1960s between people presenting with kidney failure and taking lots of Bex powder, and therefore Phenacetin.”