Arrest Warrant speaks openly about his extreme cocaine use. How do you survive 10 grams a day? Numbers, risks and medical facts at a glance.
Rapper arrest warrant speaks openly about his massive cocaine consumption in his Netflix documentary “Babo – An Arrest Warrant Story”. Sometimes he consumed up to ten grams of the drug – an amount that, according to experts, should actually be fatal. How does it work?
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Coke in the spotlight
Cocaine is not only widespread in the party scene, but also in the media and music – this is also confirmed by the “Babo” documentary. Aykut Anhan, aka arrest warrant, talks about his daily consumption, which reached up to ten grams a day: “One gram on the left, one gram on the right, every 20 minutes,” says the musician himself in the documentary. After collapsing, he eventually had to be resuscitated.
According to the European Union Drugs Agency, five grams of daily consumption is considered a lethal dose for addicts. Non-addicts usually die with just around 1.2 grams. In particularly sensitive people, just 30 milligrams can have a fatal effect – a drastic indication of the extreme addiction that was only able to survive the dose of ten grams thanks to his dependence and luck. “I was practically dead,” says the rapper.
What’s really in cocaine?
Cocaine is obtained from the leaves of Erythroxylon coca Lam (coca leaves), which are grown in the Andes of South America. Depending on the processing, combination with hydrochloride salt produces either powdered cocaine or chunk-shaped crystals – known as crack. When taken nasally, the drug has a stimulating effect on the central nervous system. It activates nerve cells that contain dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. After just seconds to minutes, euphoria, increased self-confidence and the reduction of inhibitions set in. The average half-life is around 60 minutes.
Cocaine boom in Germany: alarming numbers
The consumption and possession of cocaine is illegal in Germany – but the numbers have been rising for years. According to the German Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction (DBDD), there were 541.34 milligrams of cocaine per 1,000 people in Berlin in 2023. In 2018 it was 343.08 milligrams. The proportion of 18 to 59 year olds who drink at least once a year grew from 0.6% (2015) to 1.6% (2021). The arrest warrant itself confirms in the documentary that he started doing coke at the age of 13 – so today he has been addicted for 25 years.
Pure danger to life: This is how an overdose works
A cocaine overdose can cause severe seizures. Due to the expansion of the blood vessels and the drop in blood pressure, the brain can no longer receive sufficient supply – a so-called cocaine shock, which can be fatal. There is also a risk of paralysis of the respiratory center, circulatory failure and heart attacks, which are also life-threatening. Frequent use can also cause cocaine psychosis, which manifests itself in aggressiveness, delusions and hallucinations.
When the body can no longer live without it
Tolerance can develop after just a few weeks – larger and larger quantities are needed to achieve the same effect. The more cocaine is consumed, the more the brain stops producing dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. During withdrawal, the body reacts with symptoms such as high blood pressure because it has become accustomed to the blood pressure-lowering effect. This dependence ensures that addicts can tolerate – or need – ever higher doses.
Face of addiction? Arrest warrant destroyed nose
In addition to internal damage, external consequences are also visible. Many fans particularly noticed the deformed nose of arrest warrant in the documentary. This can be caused by damage to the nasal mucous membranes and the nasal septum as a result of years of consumption. According to “Innovation Healthcare”, Matteo Trimarchi, professor of otolaryngology at the Università della Svizzera italiana in Lugano, explains that the nasal septum can break through and the shape of the nose can collapse completely. Whether this is the case with an arrest warrant remains unclear.
There is a lot of speculation about Arrest’s nose on TikTok:
Typical in the scene, but not for the street
As Stuttgart drug counselor Elena Feller emphasized to “Deutschlandfunk”, the documentary is a good but also chilling example of extreme drug use. Such consumption over 25 years was only possible through arrest warrant’s financial success. “The more money you have, the more you do coke,” confirms the rapper. Many other addicts lose their homes and jobs because of their addiction. Financial hardship often leads to a switch to cheaper drugs – with additional risks.