Once a cottage industry serving the fringes of society, illicit drugs have become a brutal big business where customers are increasingly upscale, if no less immune to the dangers of abuse. For this week's cover story on cocaine, the most deceptive and expensive of drugs, TIME sent a team of correspondents to measure its burgeoning popularity across the country. Jonathan Beaty interviewed sources in Washington, D.C., New Mexico and Southern California, while Jeff Melvoin traveled in New England, Florida and Colorado, and Steven Holmes covered Northern California and the Midwest. Correspondent Robert L. Goldstein spoke with movie celebrities in Los Angeles and Reporter-Researcher Rosemarie Tauris talked to dancers and psychiatrists in New York City. Says Beaty:

"We began our assignment assuming that cocaine fans were found mainly among the glittery rich in Hollywood and Manhattan. As the story shows, cocaine has become a very middle class phenomenon and can be found everywhere."

Though the illegal status of cocaine meant keeping the names of many sources confidential, Melvoin was surprised at the willingness of users to talk about their experiences with the drug. Says he: "The fact that they were so relaxed with a reporter is an indication of how casual cocaine use has become." But Beaty found that some cocaine dealers in Los Angeles were considerably more cautious: "It was the first time I had been in an attorney's office with semiautomatic weapons leaned up against the wall. It is safe to say that the paranoia level was high on all sides." Senior Editor Christopher Porterfield, who edited the cover, was struck by the complexity of the current cocaine craze, both in its origins and implications. "Unlike heroin, cocaine use can't be tied to poverty and neglect," he says. "It seems to have more to do with social ritual, spiritual impoverishment and lack of confidence in the future." Senior Writer Michael Demarest, who wrote the main story, speculates that cocaine's appeal is at least partly explained by its association with power and prestige. Says he: "Cocaine, for all its hazards, is likely to be around for a long tune."

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