Unfortunately, a widely-shared-on-Facebook claim that cocaine is a "cure" for COVID-19 is wholly false.
The claim, per a nose-minded rundown from Politifact, appears to have originated in part from a January-dated Facebook post in which a grammatically incorrect caption atop a photo of presumed cocaine claimed "scientists" were "shocked" to have learned that cocaine "kills coronavirus."
The claim also spread across Twitter, complete with a breaking news-esque image:
Ultimately, the FB post was flagged for presenting false information, with Politifact filing the claim under its Pants on Fire category of lies.
Still, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health in Paris, France decided to make certain that the general public was aware that ingesting cocaine in hopes of being cured was a lost case, at least in terms of the erroneously claimed COVID-19 benefits.
"No, cocaine does NOT protect against COVID-19," a Ministry official said in a tweeted statement over the weekend. "It is an addictive drug that causes serious side effects and is harmful to people's health."
As you've hopefully caught on to by now, there’s been a swath of misinformation in heavy circulation since COVID-19 started seizing headlines. One of the more peculiar claims came from noted Christian dumbfuck Jim Bakker, who shilled for some sort of drinkable silver solution on his program that he claimed could kill the coronavirus within 12 hours. Obviously, this is also not true.
