Sharon positioned the bill in her nose first, making sure that the entire roll snuggled its way inside and she had a good hold of it to keep it in place. Next, she angled it at the beginning of the line of white powder. She took a long, deep breath in through her mouth and breathed out very slowly, trying to calm her nerves. Once satisfied she closed her mouth and pressed her left pointer finger on the nostril opposite to the bill and snorted for all she was worth as she trained her eyes on suctioning up every granule of coke in her path.

In only a moment the...