How has the cocaine supply changed over time?

This page presents data on the content and variability of samples that were “sold as cocaine” in order to provide some insights into unregulated cocaine.

The first figure provides information on the content of samples sold as cocaine over the past four quarters. Click on 'Samples sold as cocaine' in the legend to turn on that series and see the total samples sold as cocaine included in each quarter. Additional data notes are at the bottom of this page and the details on drug categories are available here. In this figure, we combine BTMPS (associated with illicit fentanyl) with other impurities, and count levamisole, the most common substance used to cut cocaine, separate from other cuts and buffs.

To explore how often samples have multiple chemicals present we provide the median number of substance results (the count of chemicals found in a given sample). Higher numbers represent more chemicals being detected. As a measure of variability, the standard deviation of the result count by quarter is shown, with higher numbers indicating more variability in the number of chemical results among samples in the quarter.

Data notes

Drug testing sites can do little about potential cross-contamination: The container a client used may or may not have been used before. Therefore, any unusual combination may be due to cross-contamination and not represent drugs actually sold together. For more details on drug categories named, click here. The metrics presented here include:

No expected drug: The percentage of samples with no cocaine found.
Fentanyl: Samples positive for fentanyl.
Fentalogs: Any substance in the fentanyl analogue (fentalog) class, which may be substantially weaker or stronger than fentanyl itself.
Xylazine: See our xylazine page for more on this tranquilizer often added to fentanyl for sale.
The Other novel synthetic opioid (NSO) category is included in the Major unexpected drug category (below).
Major unexpected drug: Samples with methamphetamine, fentanyls and other opioids, etc.
Minor unexpected drug: Includes minor stimulants, dissociatives, depressants, and hallucinogens.
Levamisole: A de-worming medication frequently used to cut cocaine.
Other cuts and buffs: Other substances thought to have little health or psychoactive effects used to extend the mass of product or assist in forming pills.
Impurities: Chemicals that remain due to incomplete refinement or synthesis of the target substance (excluding those exclusive to synthesizing fentanyls). They may also represent catalysts, cleaning agents or other substances unintentionally present in the final product. Like cuts and buffs, these are undercounted for a variety of reasons.
SD result count: The standard deviation, a measure of variability, of each sample's count of unique chemical results.
Median result count: Median of the count of unique chemical results.

Medians are more stable measures of central tendency than averages. If quarter 1 ranges from 1 to 8 and quarter 2 ranges from 1 to 16, the median--the middle value--might be no different but the mean for quarter 2 will be pulled up by the presence of even a single extreme value (e.g., 16). The standard deviation would increase in quarter 2 in this example.

How has the cocaine supply changed over time?

Data notes

What's in things sold as...