Your body already makes a hormone that tells your skin to tan. Melanotan 2 is a synthetic peptide engineered to mimic that hormone but in a version that's more potent and longer lasting than Viral tanning 'Barbie drug' linked to cancer, experts warn Melanotan II is the product that's been dubbed the "Barbie drug" on social media, and promises to give users a tan without the sun but it can have serious side effects including, in rare cases, I was minutes from death after taking 'Barbie drug' everyone needs to be warned