Major Project- Alex's Addiction.

Something I want to explore in my series, is Alex's addiction to cocaine. The second episode contains flashbacks which allude to Alex's addiction to cocaine which is brought on by a number of factors, including pressure from his dealer (who is later revealed to be Mitch), the stress of having to live up to his father's expectations, and his problems with drink.

In order to fully explore how it would be possible for Alex to become addicted to cocaine, and what kind of effect cocaine would have on his body, I decided to do some investigation into what the drug can do.

I browsed some health forums, and found that the general consensus among users was that it is very possible to become addicted to cocaine from the first try, meaning it would not take a lot of usage at all in order for someone to become reliant on it. This is something I think would be useful for the story I would like to tell, as I need to be able to show Alex becoming hooked on the stuff in a relatively short amount of time.
I also needed to realistically come up with a way for Alex to begin taking the drug. Afterall, the decision to take cocaine isn't one that someone could take lightly. Therefore I decided to investigate the idea that perhaps Mitch spikes Alex with the drug somehow, and Alex becomes addicted that way. In a way, I prefer to idea of Alex becoming addicted due to something out of his control, as not only does it add to his character as being somewhat naive to Mitch's ulterior motives, it also adds to Mitch's character of being a very cold, and calculating person that has no real loyalty to anyone.

Finally, I decided to check out what kind of effects the drug has on the human body, so that I could create a realistic depiction of a person under the influence of cocaine in my series. In finding this information, I found the following sites useful:
http://www.healthboards.com/boards/addiction-recovery/455748-cocaine-use-how-soon-do-you-get-addicted.html  (Information on the effects cocaine has on loved ones as well as abusers.)
http://www.talktofrank.com/drug/cocaine (FRANKS official website with a section on cocaine, listing the positive and negative effects. Also contains stories from users explaining the reason for them taking the drug, and the effect it had on themselves and the people around them.)

All in all, I found that the effects of cocaine include;

• A feeling of being "on top of the world" which leads to risk-taking behaviour, followed by a horrible come-down that can last for days.
• A tendancy to become more "social".
• Increased body temperature.
• Heart palpitations. 
• Hallucinations.
• Sleeplessness
• Reduction of appetite (leading to excessive weight-loss)
• Paranoia

These effects give me a lot to experiment with and use to tell a story in my series. For example, before the cocaine is even introduced to the audience, I can have subtle hint to show that Alex is a cocaine user, such as having him complain that the temperature in the room is too hot (even though everyone else is cold) or have him look comparably thinner compared to a past version of himself. 

A more obvious and interesting effect I would like to play with are the hallucinations and paranoia. 

I think some very interesting imagery could be shown with Alex experiencing some hallucinations in the barren Scottish Highlands, and the paranoia aspect could be used to add some conflict between himself and the characters around him.

All in all, I think the idea of Alex being a cocaine user opens the door for story-telling opportunities throughout the series (and in particular episode 2, which will explore how he became an addict, and the effect it has had on himself and his family).

I am looking forward to exploring the ways I can show his symptoms of addiction through his actions and interactions with the characters and environment around him, and I am particularly looking forward to seeing what kind of hallucinogenic effects I can come up with for him to experience during his time at the lodge.