Before he became hopelessly addicted to cocaine, spent two stretches in prison for possession, and almost died from an overdose so severe that his muscle tissue leaked into his kidneys, Vassily*, the only son of an immigrant family, led a more or less normal life in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Vassily might have progressed had he not been interrupted by what he now describes as “a few family problems”. In 1992, shortly after Vassily had left school, his father was arrested for attempting to import 40 kilograms of cocaine and 20 kilograms of heroin. “I’m pretty cluey,” Vassily says. “But I didn’t know what he was doing, and I don’t think Mum did either.” The family came under intense scrutiny; Vassily was followed by police cars while in the street, and the family’s phones were tapped.
Scandals involving cocaine have long been common for wayward game-show hosts and sports stars; if you’re an aspiring rugby league bad boy and haven’t been caught on camera doing lines, then you’re not trying hard enough. Since at least the 1980s, coke has been the A-lister’s go-to vice, a drug whosestatus spoke not only to their bank balance but their Olympian elevation above ordinary folk.
The comedown from cocaine is famously horrendous. Vacuumed of serotonin, the brain seizes up like a salted slug. Money wasn’t an issue: he and his wife were doing well, buying houses, doing them up, and flipping them. When he turned 33, they tried to conceive. It took five years, during which time Vassily didn’t take drugs. A year after their son was born, however, his wife left him for another man. “I didn’t see my son for a year,” he says. “I wasn’t happy in my life.”He moved back down to Sydney, where he began using heavily, and during the week.
In 2020, his system imploded. “Protein was leaking from my muscles into my kidneys,” he says. “My kidneys were shutting down. I walked into my house and collapsed.” His housemate drove him to hospital. Doctors later told him if he hadn’t got there immediately, he would have died. “They gave me two choices. Go on dialysis or drink 76 litres of water over a 10-day period.” He chose the water. “It washed out my kidneys.” He winces at the memory. “Coke is very dangerous.
According to Vassily, the Chinese have become increasingly active. “There’s an exchange,” he says. “In China, pseudoephedrine is $1500 a kilo. The Chinese sell the pseudo-ephedrine to the Mexicans, so they can make ice, and the Mexicans give the Chinese cocaine as payment.” The Chinese, meanwhile, have multiple avenues to get it into Australia. “They’re so much a part of society here,” Vassily explains. “They import food, furniture, whatever. Everything is made in China.
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