Wow, that's a shame. 200K on marching powder is a serious habit. I hope rehab works for the poor bugger.
A prominent former pro flat track racer friend of mine from Central California had become so fuc*ed up on cocaine and alcohol that he lost his business, wife and most of his friends over a three year period. Luckily he managed to keep his huge house as thankfully the mortgage had been paid off during the good years. Remarkably he still owned most of his bike collection, although he was starting to sell one or two off every time he needed some cash. When I visited him in the late 90's he was living in the living room of his 5 bedroom two story house and the only furniture in the whole place was two plastic chairs, a plastic table, a mattress sitting on the floor and a portable TV sitting on a milk crate. He was obviously embarrassed and made the excuse that he'd sold his furniture and was waiting on a new lot to be delivered "any day now". He knew that I knew the true story but we went along with the charade. All he could offer me was a Bud lite, a Tequila shooter chaser, a line of coke and a plate of nachos. It was so bloody sad seeing what he's become in the 10 years since I'd first met him.
Thankfully a number of his loyal friends had hung in there and by 2001 they'd had enough. They decided that if nothing was done to stop his slide he'd be dead within a year. As a group they had fund raising to raise the funds for a period in a rehab unit in Palm Springs. They actually had to trick him into a group confrontation with all of his friends and family by inviting him to a "party" where they all confronted him with their brutally honest opinions of what he'd become. From there he was taken directly to the rehab centre for a dry out which lasted nearly three months.
Today I'm happy to report that he came out the other end totally clean and as of yesterday he reports that hasn't had a drink or a line of coke since 2001. He reckons he still occasionally "feels the need" but has so far managed to fight it off. Without these good friends contributing a serious amount of money (and love) for the rehab and support, my friend would no doubt be dead today.
Sorry for the hijack.
