It's a question no one will ever be able to answer, but it seems hard to believe their habits didn't grease their downward spirals.

An inquest this week heard how Leeds DJ Steve O'Brady took his own life amid growing financial and emotional problems. It also revealed the 26-year-old was taking ketamine.

Meanwhile the parents of Jake Knowles, 21, from Harrogate warned of the dangers of cocaine addiction after the student also became depressed and hanged himself.

Every weekend in Leeds people take potentially dangerous recreational drugs – ecstasy, ketamine and cocaine. We're NOT talking about the extremely addictive, extremely dangerous drugs such as crack cocaine, heroin and crystal meth which are still only taken by a relatively small section of society.

So-called recreational drugs are often consumed like alcohol, usually of a weekend before their consumers return to the more conventional 9 to 5 pattern of working, eating and sleeping. They don't automatically send them down a slippery slope of self destruction they can't escape from.

Vulnerable

There are a small number of people who are vulnerable, whose circumstances mean that they are more likely to harm themselves – in this case, Steve was already low while Jake, in the words of his own father: "lived the life of a rock star".

Let's be clear, this isn't the exclusive preserve of drugs. From booze to gambling to sex, everyone picks their poison and the character of the individual decides how much that affects them.

But what is beyond question is the fact that if you have problems and you want to make them better, drugs don't work, they really do make you worse. They're an easy option but a wholly artifical one which eventually brings you crashing back down to earth.

Users would say they offer a speedy escape from a world which sometimes seems, at best, mundane, at worst, unbearable. They would say they blur the lines of reality and in the short-term heighten all the emotions we wish we could enjoy every hour of every day.

But while they might not end the users' days directly, taken at the wrong time and for the wrong reasons, it might just speed them to an early grave that bit quicker.

If anything good could come out of the loss of these two young lives then perhaps it will be a reminder of the dangers of substance abuse. They're proof that if you have a problem drugs are never a cure.


Using the big C for celebrity


AS much as I genuinely feel for Jade Goody as she battles cancer I can't help but feel she's being more than a little undignified about the whole thing.

Every twist and turn of her crisis is being played out in the pages of the press and I get the impression that she, or at least her people, are milking it for all it's worth.

Which is symptomatic of how the reality TV star has been kidnapped by her PR team and given a pseudo sense of importance, the same pseudo-importance which got her in trouble with Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother.

I know it sounds harsh, but imagine how it feels for other people who are suffering with similar illnesses – some in a much worse condition – who might also view Jade's recent exposure as shameless and insensitive flaunting.


Dock won't see Gok again


The imminent arrival of Gok Wan in Leeds to officially launch Clarence Dock may add a sprinkle of celebrity to the multi-million pound riverside development – but I'm still dubious.

The retail and leisure scheme down by the Aire looks pretty good and, I have to admit, they've garnered quite a good selection of high/mid market names down there.

But will it be enough to get the punters down there? The jury's out. It might have stood a better chance if it had secured a much more prestigious anchor in the form of a big name designer. There was actually moves to bring an Armani store down there – but this never came to anything.

So are we left with a curate's egg or a potential golden egg? Only time will tell.

In the meantime don't be blinded by Gok at the dock. He may add a touch of sparkle for an hour or two but once he's got his fee he'll be off – and I'm willing to bet he won't ever be popping back to Clarence Dock to do his shopping.