EALING BROADWAY, LONDON:

In the first of our special series, Clubbers for Life brings you an insight into how your lifestyle options may affect the way you club in the future.

In this issue we examine Trevor, a clubber whose recreational drug taking eventually consumed his life. It may make you think twice about your habits.

"It started off pretty normal really," said Trevor "Charlie" Davies. "Back to someone's for a chill-out after a night out, and the mirror would usually come out. Nothing like a few 'sharpeners' to keep you on your toes." But then we'd start getting a few g's here, a few g's there. That's when I really started to get carried away."

Racking them up

According to Charlie, the problem started quickly spiralling out of control when even simple tasks became an occasion for celebration. "Have a few mates over, fancy a line? Going down to the pub, we'll have quick one for the road. Making a phone call to the boss to get a sickie on a Monday morning, whatever really."

"It'd be like 'we're going down to the pub, I'll just have a sneaky one or two in the loos' said Charlie. And the next thing I knew, I was doing it at home, throughout the week."

Charlie's story is typical of the widespread epidemic across the nation's capital, according to Pat Thompson from the Soho based Centre for Relapse Prevention. A recent survey conducted by the Help Group showed more and more young people associating the drug with virtually any social scenario, a fact mirrored by Charlie's own experiences.

"I mean I was doing it anywhere, anytime. Road journeys with your mates would turn into a real laugh when we'd start chopping up - like Jack and I on the outside lane of the M4. But it was a wicked day for a ride, and it wasn't like I was driving or anything being the pillion passenger."

"Oh you name it, I've chopped up there. Kitchen sink, lounge, toilets. I racked on up in the shower once, but we were running late for dinner admittedly."

Fancy a sneaky one?

"The Denial Phase is symptomatic with polysubstance dependants," said Dr Jane Smith from London Middlesex's Behavioural Science Unit. According to Dr Smith, chronic recidivists like Charlie "typically remain in denial until prompted by a powerful external trigger. A group intervention, the advice of someone outside the patient's normal peer grouping, but most often a simple trigger."

Luckily for Charlie this was exactly the scenario, when freefalling through 10,000 feet, he offered Tandem Jump Master John Jameson "a sneaky line."

"I knew I secretly had a bit of a problem, but I'm really grateful to John for showing me just how out of control I was getting (when we landed)" he said. "I guess it was the fresh perspective that I really needed. I think I was getting a little silly really, looking back on it - we hadn't even opened the main chute yet."

For more help, or free advice on any drug-related matters, call Clubbers for Life on (020) 889713132.