Douglas Steinberg | May 27, 2001 | 7 min read
While celebrities and U.S. entanglement in the Colombian drug war keep cocaine in the headlines, a larger tragedy hides in the unseen lives of both addicts and former addicts. In 1999, 1.5 million Americans took cocaine at least once a month, according to the federal government's National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. The problem's vast size is aggravated by two stubborn realities: many addicts just can't quit, and those who do might relapse when stressed or tempted. Both groups suffer because