Simón: from cocaine to a freefall into heroin

From cocaine to heroin: the escalation nobody wants to see

Cocaine was the drug of success, the executive's drug, the one that financed the image of triumph. Heroin, by contrast, was seen as a relic of the 80s, something long left behind. But addiction knows nothing of nostalgia: when the stimulant stops working, the body demands something stronger, and the jump to opioids is the logical consequence of a tolerance that spares no one. The case of Simón, a public figure whose drug use has become public knowledge, is the latest example.

The pattern of escalating use

The sequence is almost clinical: first stimulants, then hallucinogens, then opioids. It is the path that describes Simón's trajectory, as he has gone from cocaine to heroin in a matter of months. Each stage requires more risk to achieve the same effect. Tolerance is not an opinion: it is a physiological mechanism that pushes the user to increase the dose or switch substances.

The leverage metaphor

Some observers describe this process in language more suited to the markets: "Before it was just another trade; now he needs leverage to feel alive." The comparison is not gratuitous. The addict, like the investor, takes on more risk to sustain the same level of satisfaction. The difference is that in the markets, bankruptcy is declared and you move on; in addiction, collapse leads to physical and mental deterioration.

The family cost: abandonment as the final stage

The harshest part of this case is the human cost. Simón has a young son whom he barely sees. His parents, according to reports, have stopped calling him for family gatherings. A few weeks ago he promised his mother he would check into a detox clinic; he has not done so. And in his closest circle, the death of Sergio, another heroin user, is seen as a warning of what may come.

Is there still time, or is it the point of no return?

Opinions are divided. Some argue the deterioration is already irreversible and the outcome is only a matter of time. Others believe there is still a chance if he enters a rehabilitation centre before summer finishes him off. But no one offers a middle scenario: either he escapes the spiral, or the spiral swallows him. The question hanging in the air is an uncomfortable one: how long can a public figure's addiction remain a private matter that only draws interest when it becomes a spectacle?

Simón's trajectory is an uncomfortable mirror of a society that normalises recreational drug use while incivil the addict. Heroin is no longer a problem of the 1980s; it is back to remind us that the line between fun and self-destruction is far thinner than it seems. How many more cases are needed before prevention is seriously discussed?