Next to methamphetamine, cocaine creates the greatest psychological dependence of any drug. It stimulates key pleasure centers within the brain and causes extremely heightened euphoria (www.drugfreeworld.org). Once exclusive to backstage VIP areas or high-profile fashion parties, it’s now available in your local pub, the office party, or back at your mates’ with Netflix and a curry. Coke is no longer the preserve of the wealthy elite, its price has dropped within reach of a much wider audience, but at a much greater cost..

Tolerance to coke develops quickly, so users take larger and larger quantities in an attempt to chase the same initial high. Coke binges then become the norm; hours and hours spent in a wide awake artificial “buzz”.

But after every high comes the crash.. Total exhaustion, inability to function. Whole weekends wasted, days off work, letting down family and friends, bullshit excuses that nobody believes because everybody knows..

So what are you putting up your nose?

Pure cocaine is bad enough. As well as causing anxiety, panic, psychosis and hallucinations, it can also raise blood pressure to dangerous levels causing strokes and heart attacks, permanent damage to the blood vessels of the heart and brain, damage to the liver, kidneys and lungs, and complete destruction of nasal passages.

None of the coke sold by dealers is pure though. The UK Forensic Science Service reported an average purity of just 26.4 percent in their 2000+ cocaine seizures for 2013, down from 45 percent in 2005.

“We analyze everything seized from an ounce upwards—the weight street dealers typically buy at—and we are regularly seizing huge quantities of substances which have zero traces of cocaine.” Lawrence Gibbons, Senior Operations Manager for Drugs at the National Crime Agency (www.vice.com)

Soap powder and glucose are well known as cocaine additives, but in the last few years more sinister substances have been found. Here is a selection:

Levamisole

A drug used to treat livestock with parasitic worms, levamisole adds weight to the powder, making the cocaine more valuable. It is also nearly impossible to detect when mixed into cocaine. Levamisole attacks the immune system, which can lead to a high risk of infections; even simple cuts can lead to potentially deadly diseases.

Anaesthetics: Benzocaine, Lidocaine and Procaine

Cocaine is well known for its use as an anaesthetic, so dealers often mix it with other, cheaper anaesthetics to mimic its effects. This can lead to a variety of complications, especially with the brain, heart and lungs. Benzocaine, a common dental anaesthetic, can be bought as an identical looking powder for around £12 per kilo from China, and can be cut into cocaine at any ratio a dealer wants.

In 2011, Jamie Dale, 32, was sentenced to 18 years in prison after supplying 32 tonnes of cutting agents. When he first fled from police, in his pants, carrying £20,000 in cash in a carrier bag, officers found almost no traces of cocaine at his home. John Wright of the Serious Organized Crime Agency said after the trial, “If you have snorted cocaine since 2008, it is certain you will have snorted some of Dale’s product.”

In March 2015 two men from South Wales were  jailed for conspiracy to sell cocaine; they aroused suspicion after buying 12 blenders from Asda to mix together four blocks of coke with 12.8 pounds of benzocaine.

Lawrence Gibbons gives a stark warning: “This version of benzocaine is far removed from the small, standardized doses you get in dentistry—this is stuff made in bulk in bath tubs or factories in China. We have no idea what damage it does when taken in huge doses, snorted as powder or mixed with alcohol.”

Phenacetin

Higher premium cocaine—upwards of 40 percent purity—is often called “flake” because of its shimmering snow-like appearance, but it can also be copied, according to Gibbons. “Phenacetin—a known carcinogenic—has the same shimmering appearance as purest cocaine. You could put a bag of each in front of a user, and without testing it’s near impossible to tell the difference.”

Allen Morgan, an independent forensics expert who assesses drugs hauls for big trials, says even many established sellers won’t really know what they’re buying. “If you’re really mixing in high society and can demand import standard, it is available at a price,” he explains. “But dealers often think they are selling import-standard gear as they bought it in sealed, stamped blocks as if a cartel has packed it. However, gangs have been known to rip off other dealers by hiring presses from Speedy Hire, bashing up cocaine with cutting agents, then re-pressing it so it looks like it has come straight off a boat.”

A 29 year-old dealer talking to vice.com said “They ask, ‘Is this decent stuff?’ but even if you let them try a bit first most of them haven’t got a clue if it’s any good. They take it anyway. They’ve decided they want drugs and will buy it however it comes.”

Don’t kid yourself..

If you’re doing coke don’t kid yourself that people don’t know, because they do. If they’ve done coke, or know about it, they’ll spot that you’re high or you’ve crashed, and if they’re not familiar with it they’ll know you’re on something because of your behaviour and complexion.

If someone you didn’t know came up to you in a bar or at a party and gave you a drink, and you knew it was spiked, but had know idea what with, what would you do? If you’re doing coke, you have absolutely no idea what you’re putting into your body, or what the long term effects will be.

People who see me for their coke habits tell me the high isn’t worth the comedown anyway; they anticipate having a fantastic time, and it nearly always turns out to be crap. One of my clients had attempted suicide with an overdose of booze and paracetamol after a 72 hour coke binge. He was still high, but completely mentally and physically exhausted and just wanted it to stop. Fortunately he came through it unscathed, and with my help got rid of his coke habit.

So if coke addiction is affecting your life, please feel free to call or text me on 07855 352947, or click here to email me.