Strung Out and Calling It Quits

To get help, simply dial 800-COCAINE

From San Francisco, a man who had lost his wife and job because of his cocaine habit is contemplating suicide. He is talked out of it and referred to a local drug clinic. A cocaine abuser in Beverly Hills who has been suffering from drug-induced convulsions wants to know if they can possibly be controlled by Dilantin, a drug used for epileptic seizures. Answer: don't try it. A tearful California mother reports that her son has been free-basing cocaine for three years and is about to lose his job as a hotel manager. What can she do? She is referred to a drug-treatment agency near her home.

Those are just a few of the more than 7,000 urgent inquiries received by the National Cocaine Hotline since it went into operation on May 6. Located at Fair Oaks Hospital in Summit, N.J., the toll-free line (number: 800-COCAINE) is staffed by eight trained counselors, several of them former cocaine addicts, backed up by two psychiatrists who specialize in chemical dependency. The response has been so overwhelming that the service may soon beef up its staff and extend its operating hours to 24 a day from the current 17. "The volume of calls has caught us by surprise," says Dr. Mark Gold, director of the hot line. "We had thought there were between 100,000 and 200,000 seriously dependent people in the U.S. The amount of calls indicates that the number may be much higher." If it weren't for the fear of getting arrested, the number of people using the hot line would probably be even greater. "They are so suspicious," says Gold. "They ask if the FBI is listening on the line or if their names will be turned over to the police."

A specialist in the treatment of drug abuse, Gold, along with two collaborators, pioneered the use of nonopiate drugs in treating heroin addiction. Gold persuaded the Fair Oaks trustees, in the absence of any chemical neutralizing agent for cocaine, to invest $50,000 in a hot line. Says Gold: "If you have no treatment for the disease, but it is in fact preventable, you should do what you can to prevent it."

The idea has proved addicting: as the number of cocaine-related calls at long-established counseling hot lines continues to grow, new centers like N.C.H., devoted exclusively to cocaine, have sprung up on the West Coast. In San Francisco, two private organizations provide hot lines in addition to professional and psychological services for cocaine abusers. Cocaine Intensive is a four-year-old private corporation that offers a 24-hour hot line and specialized treatment for cocaine sniffing, free-basing and injection. Nine out of every ten Cocaine Intensive callers are either divorced or are in the process of divorce, owing, they say, primarily to their cocaine habits. Says C.I. Director Joe Reilly: "Our callers' main fear is how their habit is affecting their personal relationships."

In Los Angeles, Beverly Glen Hospital began a cocaine program and hot line last August. Another group, Cocaine Anonymous, opened its 24-hour cocaine hot line in the area about six months ago. Modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous, it is run exclusively by former cocaine addicts who lead daily meetings in different parts of the city. They emphasize mutual support and positive example. "I always answer out of my own experience," says Raymond, one of the group's original members. When asked by callers "How hard is it to quit?" he answers: "How bad do you want to?" This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.