The Cocaine Rush: Sex & Religion

"I'll do anything to get me some cocaine," admitted the accused bank robber.

"Anything?" I asked.

"Anything!"

"If you offered me a chance to walk right out of this jail house free or offered me an oz. of cocaine. I'd take the coke. I LOVE coke!"

Life didn't start for Robber X until he discovered cocaine at age 28. He had sniffed it a few times, but it didn't produce any noticeable sensations. This time he injected it, a half a gram, all at once. Immediately after pulling the needle out, he could taste it. Slightly bitter, he heard a hissing roar in his ears. His heart started to pound in unison with the roaring. He started to breathe deeply. He started to sweat. Then he ejaculated through a flaccid penis. It was, to him, a MIRACLE!

"If God wanted to make the perfect drug, it would be cocaine. Cocaine is God's gift. When I take Cocaine into my body, I am partaking of God himself."

I watched him smoke it, and without any hesitation, I asked for a hit. The first hit that I took was strong. It wasn't like smoking pot. This was much more intense. It had a funny taste at first. I took another hit and held the smoke in and slowly released it from my lungs. At that moment, I finally found what I had been searching for--- the perfect high. The feeling ran through every pore and cell on my body. It was though God himself had scooped me up in his arms and brought me to heaven. It was just too good to describe; it was like looking into the face of God. (The Alcoholism Addiction Cure, Chris Prentiss, 2005:130)

or...

He could have had a candy bar!

During my research on why abstinence only treatment has not worked, I came to the NIDA Prize Bowl for "drug addicts". As part of its contingency management "pogrom", addicts are allowed to draw prizes for being abstinent, and it occurred to me that this is a perfect illustration of why NIDA's drug interventions haven't worked... 8 out of 10 return to using drugs. Abusers are not allowed to talk about how the drug makes them feel. There is absolutely NO comparison between the dopamine rush someone experiences from methamphetamine and the dopamine derived from "little tiny prizes... like a candy bar". Please! It's like comparing a Big Mac to an orgasm!

If drug/alcohol rehabilitation is to make a difference it will have to recognize the profound commitment that lies behind drug or alcohol abuse. Euphoria is something for which people will die. If they are not allowed to express such feelings, drug and alcohol recovery will continue to remain a dismal and tragic failure. One cannot create the rapport and trust needed to generate critical thinking about one's substance use or abuse while being "water boarded" with ideology or dogma.