'It's fine to feel guilty but calling yourself an addict is labelling yourself as bad'

The traditional 12-step programme is being ditched by many trying to go clean on cocaine, which young people in the UK are using in increasing numbers. Oliver Keens talks to those paving a new road to recovery that doesn’t involve shame

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We live in a world where cocaine is both everywhere and nowhere. Cocaine trafficking is surging globally, according to the UN, with cultivation up 35 per cent from 2020 to 2021. According to an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report, the UK has the second-highest rate of cocaine users in the world. It’s culturally visible from the high art of Scorsese to knockabout nonsense like Cocaine Bear. It’s the subject of a million laddy memes about “the sesh” (a cheeky metaphor for taking drugs) and hinted at in lyrics on Charli XCX’s all-conquering Brat album (“Shall we do a little key? Shall we have a little line?”). In pubs, clubs and football matches, it’s simply not a novelty to see anyone in the UK using cocaine any more.

Politicians and the media gave up having an opinion on it a long time ago, in case someone in their midst was discovered to be a user and charges of hypocrisy clouded the issue. It means cocaine sits in a unique, morally ambiguous, judgment-free vacuum. Which, it turns out, is fine, except if someone wants to quit. Given its sharp rise in usage, cocaine is dangerously absent from any national discourse.

I used to think that this eerie culture of silence came from the simple fact of its illegal, class-A status. But as more of us struggle with addiction, or know people who do, this silence starts to feel quite cruel and contributory. Because there’s a deeper reason people don’t discuss their problems with cocaine: a sense of shame. To fill this void, a brave new wave of voices is starting to speak out. In the absence of any meaningful national discussion, these individuals have taken it upon themselves to honestly tell their own stories – as a way to help others.