Vaping cocaine might sound like something no scientist would recommend — but a pair of European researchers want to make it reality, and it could actually help people who struggle with stimulant addiction.
In a paper recently published in the journal Drug Science, Policy and Law, toxicologist Fabian Steinmetz and addiction research professor Heino Stöver conceptualized a cocaine e-cigarette. The authors say such a device could mitigate the harms of smoking cocaine by reducing the risk of overdose and death, and may help people eventually find treatment when and if they’re ready. The design is similar to what a normal e-cigarette contains: a battery, an atomizer for heating the drug, and a cartridge for the e-liquid — only in this case the cartridge wouldn’t contain nicotine, but cocaine.
Vaping certain drugs is obviously popular and is generally seen as a less dangerous — but by no means risk-free — activity compared to inhaling smoke. But vaporizer technology has been co-opted to ingest illegal drugs, too, including the powerful psychedelic DMT, MDMA (also known as ecstasy), and yes, cocaine. So Steinmetz isn’t claiming to have invented the idea of a cocaine e-cigarette — or “crack pen,” as some online have called it — but he has done the legwork to make this design a reality. The question is how much it may actually help and whether people would actually use it to help mitigate their addiction.
