HOLLYWOOD seldom depicts junkies in suits and ties. But in recent weeks several public figures have admitted taking hard drugs while working in high-powered jobs. Toronto’s serially scandalous mayor, Rob Ford, has admitted that he smoked crack cocaine two years ago, while in office. Trey Radel, a Florida congressman, is under pressure to resign after being convicted of possessing powder cocaine. In Britain Paul Flowers, a former chairman of the Co-op bank (and a Methodist preacher to boot) was arrested after a newspaper filmed him apparently buying methamphetamine and other drugs. If people can take hard drugs and still go on running a national bank or Canada’s biggest city, how dangerous can such substances be?
