Coca tea consumption causes positive urine cocaine assay.
BACKGROUND
Coca tea, derived from the same plant that is used to synthesize cocaine, is commonly consumed in South America and easily obtained in the United States.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether consumption of coca tea would result in a positive urine toxicology screen for cocaine metabolites.


METHODS
Five healthy adult volunteers consumed coca tea and underwent serial quantitative urine testing for cocaine metabolites by fluorescence polarization immunoassay. The cutoff for a positive assay was chosen at 300 ng/ml, the National Institute on Drug Abuse standard.


RESULTS
Each participant's urine cocaine assay was positive (level exceeding 300 ng/ml) by 2 h after ingestion. Three out of five participants' samples remained positive at 36 h. Mean urine benzoylecgonine concentrations in all postconsumption samples was 1777 ng/ml (95% confidence interval: 1060-2495).


CONCLUSIONS
Coca tea ingestion resulted in a positive urine assay for cocaine metabolite. Healthcare professionals should consider a history of coca tea ingestion when interpreting urine toxicology results.
Mazor
Suzan S
SS
Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Seattle, Washington 98105, USA. suzan.mazor@seattlechildrens.org
Mycyk
Mark B
MB
Wills
Brandon K
BK
Brace
Larry D
LD
Gussow
Leon
L
Erickson
Timothy
T
D000328:Adult; D001628:Beverages / Q000600:supply & distribution; D015982:Bias; D003041:Coca / Q000378:metabolism*; D003042:Cocaine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000652:urine; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000652:urine; D004327:Drinking Behavior; D004335:Drug and Narcotic Control / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D016231:Fluorescence Polarization Immunoassay / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000592:standards; D008297:Male; D008487:Medical History Taking; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013020:South America; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States
C005618:benzoylecgonine; D003042:Cocaine