Consider yourself lucky, the doctor told me, extremely lucky.

Subscribe now for unlimited access.

Login or signup to continue reading

I'd been laid up for days with a nose that wouldn't stop running. No amount of cold and flu medication worked to stop the flow. I wanted to tear my face off.

He asked whether I'd done anything unusual before I fell ill and I confessed I'd snorted a line of cocaine, offered to me at a party.

"You're allergic to it," he said. "This is great news. You'll save yourself a lot of money and a lifetime of regret."

That was 40 years ago, a time when cocaine was glamourised and synonymous with wealth. I spent the rest of my adult life avoiding the stuff - and not just because of my allergy.

People I saw using cocaine became instantly unlikeable. Loud, boastful, reckless, inflated and inconsiderate. Pumped up with pharmaceutical self-importance. Put simply, they were dickheads.

Somehow, apart from one gathering a couple of years ago, I've managed to avoid the snorters for at least 20 years, quite a feat given cocaine's surging popularity in Australia.

We're among the highest countries globally for per capita consumption of the illicit drug, with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2022-2023 estimating 4.5 per cent of the population aged 14 and over had used cocaine recently. Most were males in their 20s and 30s. A quarter of the people who'd used the drug were diagnosed or treated for a mental health condition.

Our appetite for the white powder is reflected in the frequent seizures by the Australian Federal Police, the most recent of which set a record at 2.7 tonnes, the equivalent of three million street deals. No wonder the drug cartels see Australia as a lucrative market.

As the Sydney Swans scandal erupted, it was hardly surprising that alongside the sexual assault allegations cocaine use figured too. The AFL has been accused of taking a limp approach to weeding out the snorters in its midst.

Two years ago, independent MP Andrew Wilkie alleged in federal parliament the AFL had tried to cover up the extent of cocaine use among its players. Those who tested positive in in-house tests, Wilkie alleged, were encouraged to fake an injury so they wouldn't be caught by the anti-doping regulators. They'd claim they'd pulled a hamstring when in reality they'd pulled an allnighter fuelled by nose candy.

Wilkie told news.com.au he wasn't surprised by the cocaine allegations that have surfaced because the reforms the AFL made to its drug policy after the 2024 scandal fell way too short.

Of course, the problem is not limited to AFL or even the NRL.

Last week, tennis player Nick Kyrgios revealed on social media he had been suspended from competition after testing positive for cocaine in June.

"I made a huge mistake and I take full responsibility for it," Kyrgios posted. "I'm sorry to my fans, my family, my sponsors and everyone close to me. Above all, I'm sorry to the kids who follow me. I know the example this sets and I'm deeply disappointed in myself."

But Kyrgios also saw the positive in his........

© Canberra Times