How to Test Cocaine
How to Test Cocaine for Purity and Safety (2026 guide)
Testing cocaine? Start here
Most cocaine is cut with something. Before testing purity, find out what else is in your sample.
Cocaine is frequently adulterated with cutting agents including fentanyl, levamisole, lidocaine, and synthetic cathinones. Testing gives you information you wouldn't otherwise have — it can reveal an adulterant, or tell you a sample isn't what it was sold as. It cannot make a sample safe, and no test rules out every risk.
Test for fentanyl first
Fentanyl-contaminated cocaine has caused thousands of overdose deaths. Our FentKit detects fentanyl and a broad range of its analogs. Dissolve roughly 10 mg in about half a teaspoon of water, dip the strip, and read at five minutes.
Most cocaine users have no opioid tolerance, which puts them at extreme risk. Keep naloxone on hand and never use alone.
- They don't detect nitazenes. These potent synthetic opioids are increasingly common and need separate nitazene strips.
- They don't detect every fentanyl analog. Some analogs and novel opioids read negative.
- A negative result only describes the portion you tested. Fentanyl is often unevenly distributed, so one clean strip does not clear the rest. Test multiple spots from a larger batch.
What color should cocaine turn?
Start with Morris. It's the most cocaine-specific reagent available for home use. Treat anything other than a bright blue as unexpected.
| Reagent | Color Reaction | When to read | What it means | What it does not rule out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morris (A then B) | Bright, almost neon blue | After a full 30-second stir | Consistent with cocaine | Other local anesthetics, diphenhydramine, PCP. Cannot show an adulterant present alongside cocaine |
| Morris | Violet-purple | After a full 30-second stir | Ketamine, or a synthetic cathinone — not cocaine | Do not consume as cocaine |
| Marquis | Nothing, or pale pink to peach | Within 60 seconds | Normal for cocaine | Levamisole, lidocaine, fentanyl |
| Marquis | Bright orange to brown | Within 60 seconds | Amphetamine or methamphetamine present — unexpected | Do not consume |
| Mecke | Little to no reaction | Within 60 seconds | Normal for cocaine | Most cuts |
| Liebermann | Weak or pale | Within 60 seconds | Normal for cocaine | Levamisole and lidocaine specifically — see below |
Morris reagent color guide — dozens of reference reactions. Also available as the printed booklet in every Morris Spot Test Kit.
- Crush your sample into a fine powder. Chunks give unreliable results.
- Add one drop of Morris A.
- Then add one drop of Morris B.
- Stir for a full 30 seconds with a toothpick or knife point, then read the color.
Skipping the stir is the most common reason people get a weak, muddy, or absent reaction.
Morris uses cobalt thiocyanate chemistry, which can also produce blue or blue-tinged colors with other local anesthetics (lidocaine, procaine, benzocaine, tetracaine), diphenhydramine, and PCP. Dissociatives give blue-to-purple results that can be mistaken for cocaine's blue. A blue reaction is strong evidence of cocaine, not proof.
Cross-reference with more reagents
For a wider net, our Cocaine Spot Kit Package costs less than buying individually.
- 10 × fentanyl test strips
- Enough to check several parts of your supply.
- Morris reagent
- The primary cocaine test. Bright blue for cocaine; also responds to PCP and dissociatives.
- Marquis reagent
- Cocaine gives nothing or a pale pink-to-peach. A bright orange flags amphetamines.
- Mecke reagent
- Cocaine barely reacts. A color change points to a stimulant or opioid adulterant.
- Liebermann reagent
- Broadly reactive cross-reference for many stimulants and adulterants.
Marquis, Mecke, and Liebermann earn their place by catching the unexpected — cocaine reacts weakly or not at all with them, so a strong or off-looking color means something else is in the sample.
Common cutting agents
| Cutting agent | How to detect it |
|---|---|
| Fentanyl | Fentanyl test strips |
| Nitazenes | Nitazene test strips — fentanyl strips do not detect these |
| Levamisole | No reliable reagent test — lab analysis required |
| Lidocaine and other "caines" | No reliable reagent test — lab analysis required |
| Cathinones | Marquis, Mecke, Liebermann — varies by compound, some give no reaction |
| Amphetamine, methamphetamine | Marquis (bright orange to brown) |
| PCP and dissociatives | Morris |
| Baking soda and inert cuts | Purity test — shows up as a reduced percentage |
Reagent kits were long believed to identify levamisole and lidocaine by a rusty red color with Liebermann. Field testing has since found levamisole-containing samples producing bright yellow and orange-tinged reactions instead. Because those reactions are inconsistent, we no longer claim reagent tests can identify levamisole or lidocaine. Confirming either requires lab analysis such as GC-MS or FTIR — our lab testing service can do this.
Testing purity
Our Cocaine QTest Kit estimates cocaine concentration in powder or solid form. Street cocaine varies enormously — single digits to over 90%.
Purity tests estimate cocaine concentration. They do not identify cutting agents. A sample can read 80% cocaine and still contain a lethal amount of fentanyl in the remaining 20%. Test with spot kits and strips first.
Which test do I need?
Step by step
- Test for fentanyl. Roughly 10 mg in half a teaspoon of water, read at five minutes. Test more than one spot from a larger amount.
- Run Morris. Crush to a fine powder, one drop A, one drop B, stir 30 seconds. Bright blue is consistent with cocaine.
- Cross-reference. Fresh samples with Marquis, Mecke, and Liebermann. Anything strong or unexpected means something else is present.
- Test purity, optionally. Only once nothing unexpected has turned up.
- Record it. Photograph your results and consider reporting them to BunkLeaks so others benefit.
- Samples that aren't fully crushed — this matters most for Morris.
- Dim or colored lighting. Bright neutral daylight is best.
- Too much or too little sample. A few milligrams, about a match head.
- Old reagent. It degrades; store it cool and dark, and replace it annually.
- Reading only one reagent. They show what's most abundant — a minor adulterant can be masked entirely.
Your result wasn't what you expected
- Report it. Log the sample in BunkLeaks — an unexpected result in your area is a warning for everyone else in it.
- Find out what it actually is. Our lab testing service gives you a definitive answer where reagents can't.
- If an opioid is plausible, have naloxone. Never use alone, and start far below your usual amount.
- Rule out the test itself. Re-run with fresh reagent, a properly crushed sample, and better lighting before drawing conclusions.
Questions
How accurate are purity tests?
Under good conditions our QTest Kits land within roughly ±5% of laboratory results. Accuracy depends on careful measurement, a properly crushed and representative sample, and unexpired reagent.
Does a clean test mean my cocaine is safe?
No. Reagent tests and strips are presumptive, they don't detect everything, and they only describe the portion you tested. Testing lowers your risk of an unpleasant surprise; it doesn't remove risk.
How much do I need to test?
Reagent tests need a few milligrams, about a match head. Strips need roughly 10 mg in half a teaspoon of water. Purity tests need 10–100 mg.
How do I know if levamisole is in my cocaine?
You can't confirm it with a reagent kit — see the note above. It needs lab analysis. Levamisole is a veterinary dewormer commonly used to cut cocaine and can cause serious harm including neutropenia and skin necrosis.
Ready to test?
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More resources
- Our types of test kits
- QTest purity kit basics
- Skylab separation kit basics
- How to test for nitazenes — why fentanyl strips aren't enough
- Reaction video library — watch colors develop in real time
- Spectrum color guide
A sample that has been tested should not be considered safe. There is inherent risk when choosing to consume any substance.
Many factors are involved when conducting a test and examining reactions, and The Bunk Police does not assume responsibility for the interpretation of results. Reactions of individual samples can vary depending on lighting differences and the specific mixtures of substances being tested.
Bunk Police kits are intended for identifying unknown substances for harm reduction purposes only. The Bunk Police does not assume responsibility for the use or misuse of this information. Proceed at your own risk.
