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.
This guide walks the tests in the order you should run them: fentanyl strips first, then Morris to identify cocaine, then cross-reference reagents, then purity.
Which test do I need?
The cocaine testing flow chart. The sections below walk this same path in order.
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.
Identify cocaine with Morris
Morris is the most cocaine-specific reagent available for home use, so it runs first. Cocaine turns Morris bright blue to green — treat anything else as unexpected.
From our official reaction library. Violet-purple means ketamine or a cathinone — not cocaine.
Watch full reaction- 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.
Morris reagent color guide — dozens of reference reactions. Also available as the printed booklet in every Morris Spot Test Kit.
Cross-reference with more reagents
Cocaine barely reacts with most other reagents — that's the point. Run them on fresh samples in the order below: a strong or unexpected color means something else is in there. Every reaction below is from our official reaction library, filmed on verified cocaine.
In the Cocaine Spot Kit Package
The package bundles 10 fentanyl strips with Morris plus these three — cheaper than buying individually.
Bright orange-to-brown flags amphetamine or methamphetamine.
Watch full reaction
Yellow flags lidocaine — cocaine and levamisole stay clear. Your best home screen for lidocaine.
Watch full reaction
Cocaine itself can read clear to orange, so Liebermann can't flag levamisole reliably — see the note below.
Watch full reactionGoing deeper: the full reaction library
Six more reagents from our library, useful for ruling out specific adulterants. For cocaine, most should barely react — Mandelin and Robadope are the exceptions.
One of the few reagents cocaine reacts with — expect warm tones.
Watch full reaction
Strong dark colors point to opioids or other adulterants.
Watch full reaction
Reacts with primary amines — helps spot amphetamine-type cuts.
Watch full reaction
A color change suggests something other than cocaine.
Watch full reaction
Purple would mean an indole (like LSD or DMT) — never expected here.
Watch full reaction
Blue would flag a secondary amine such as methamphetamine or MDMA.
Watch full reaction- Morris turns violet-purple — ketamine or a synthetic cathinone, not cocaine.
- Marquis turns bright orange-brown — amphetamine or methamphetamine.
- Mecke turns yellow — lidocaine.
- Simon's turns blue — a secondary amine like meth or MDMA.
- Ehrlich turns purple — an indole; the sample is not what it was sold as.
Any of these: do not consume, and see "Your result wasn't what you expected" below.
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 | Mecke reagent — lidocaine reacts yellow; cocaine and levamisole stay clear. Lab analysis to confirm |
| Cathinones | Marquis, Mecke, Liebermann — varies by compound, some give no reaction |
| Amphetamine, methamphetamine | Marquis (bright orange to brown), Simon's (blue), Robadope |
| 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 by a rusty red color with Liebermann. Field testing has since found levamisole-containing samples producing bright yellow and orange-tinged reactions instead — the same range cocaine itself can produce. Because those reactions are inconsistent, we no longer claim reagent tests can identify levamisole — confirming it requires lab analysis such as FTIR or LC-MS, which our mail-in lab, Transparency Testing, can do. Lidocaine is different: it reacts yellow with Mecke, while cocaine and levamisole stay clear, making Mecke the best home screen for lidocaine.
Test purity
Our Cocaine QTest Kit measures cocaine concentration in powder or solid form from a 20 mg (0.02 g) sample, reporting both a purity percentage and the gram amount of actual cocaine in your sample. Street cocaine varies enormously — single digits to over 90%. Knowing the measured amount lets you apply "start low and go slow" to real numbers instead of guesses.
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 strips and spot kits first.
The Cocaine QTest was designed to avoid false positives with levamisole — one of the most common cocaine cuts — but lidocaine can produce a false positive and inflate your purity reading. Screen with Mecke first: lidocaine turns it yellow, while cocaine stays clear. If lidocaine flags, a QTest result can't be trusted.
Record your results
Photograph your results in good light next to the reaction charts. When reagents leave doubt, our mail-in lab, Transparency Testing, provides full analysis using FTIR, LC-MS, NMR, and NIR — see how lab testing works.
- 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.
Which forms of cocaine can be tested?
Reagents and fentanyl strips work on any form. Purity testing is more restrictive.
| Form | Reagents & strips | QTest purity |
|---|---|---|
| Powder (cocaine HCl) | Yes | Yes |
| Crack / freebase | Yes | True freebase, yes. Street-level crack hasn't been extensively verified — it often carries adulterants and residual processing components. Screen with spot kits first; if nothing flags, QTest results should be accurate. |
| Liquid cocaine | Yes | No. Measuring the purity of a liquid requires lab analysis — Transparency Testing's Complete Analysis measures purity and identifies major and minor components. |
| Pink cocaine ("tusi") | Yes — expect non-cocaine results | No. Tusi often contains no cocaine at all — typically ketamine, MDMA, and caffeine, sometimes 2C-B. See our pink cocaine guide. |
Crack and powder cocaine are the same drug pharmacologically — the differences are physical form and route of use, not chemical makeup. Freebase is made by processing cocaine HCl with baking soda or ammonia and heating it, and is typically smoked, which intensifies effects and shortens them — raising overdose and dependence risk.
Your result wasn't what you expected
- Find out what it actually is. Mail a sample to Transparency Testing, our mail-in lab analysis service — a definitive answer where reagents can't give one.
- 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.
Put the purity number to work
Long-term snorting damages nasal passages — "cocaine nose" ranges from irritation and infections to perforated septums. Our SprayPack Kit is a DIY nasal spray for water-soluble substances: a saline-based, more hygienic route that protects nasal tissue, absorbs more completely, and delivers a measured dose per spray. Its dose chart tells you milligrams per spray — and a QTest result makes that math exact, because you know how much actual cocaine is going into the bottle.
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. The Cocaine QTest uses 20 mg (0.02 g).
Can I identify cocaine by smell, taste, or mouth numbness?
No. Cocaine is often described as bitter or chemical-smelling with a numbing effect, but many other substances share those traits — and lidocaine, a common cut, mimics the numbing specifically. Smell and taste tell you nothing about identity, purity, or adulterants. Testing is the only way to know.
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 through Transparency Testing. Levamisole is a veterinary dewormer commonly used to cut cocaine and can cause serious harm including neutropenia and skin necrosis.
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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
- Pink cocaine ("tusi") — everything you need to know
- 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.
