This quarter saw an unprecedented 33% increase in Tufts University’s production of the
valuable and high-demand drug: cocaine.
While cocaine remains a federally classified Schedule II drug—possession of which can carry up to a fine of $2000 or two years in prison in the state of Massachusetts — a recently passed law allows, select private institutions to manufacture it.
The law was passed in response to the ever-tightening monopoly that South American countries, particularly Colombia, hold on the cocaine market. As the largest consumer of the drug in the world, the U.S. sees hundreds of tons of cocaine pour across its borders every year. The Biden Administration has announced “getting back into ‘the game’” as an executive priority, first by putting its foot down on the extradition of high-profile drug traffickers, and now by investing in domestic collegiate cocaine production.
Tufts has been an active in cocaine manufacturer since 2021, when worldwide cocaine demand hit a record high. It was among the first research universities to produce the drug under the new law. Tufts prides itself on this endeavor, highlighting its sustainable manufacturing process, which only uses coca leaves cultivated by the Department of Biology and leftover reactants from its own chemistry research labs.
Tufts has also been heralded as an innovator for its encouragement of undergraduate involvement in the manufacturing process, something other institutions have been hesitant
to do. Tufts offers select work study positions for eligible students, and recently introduced a for-credit option for STEM majors.
Seeing success in its domestic investments, the federal government sent out an array
of new grants funding cocaine manufacturing — the largest of which went to Tufts. Reportedly, Tufts used the grant to completely overhaul and streamline the process. In a genius move attributed to Dr. Ravi Bachu, certain key reactions are now performed in Chem 1 and 2 lab sections, producing a great quantity of a substance necessary for manufacturing. Following these changes, Tufts’ cocaine production reached an incredible 150 tons and is projected to increase over the next fiscal year.
