Cocaine put me in gutter, says Alley
Former Cheers star Kirstie Alley became a cocaine addict in a bid to lose weight - and although the drug helped her shed the pounds, it also made her certifiably insane.
The actress started using the drug in 1976 but stopped three years later because she was suffering horrific neurosis, psychosis and paranoid side-effects, and her weight had plummeted to an unhealthy 98 pounds (seven stone).
She explains: "One great way to lose weight is to become a hopeless drug addict. I've tried it and it really does work. It's just that it wrecks your life at the same time.
"For about three years, you could always recognise me by the permanent white powder outline under my nostrils. But I was dying spiritually.
"I knew for a fact I was certifiable. I was down for the count. I was disappearing and this whole conglomeration of paranoia, psychosis and neurosis, a mental gobbledygook was taking over. I could feel the abyss but inches away."
