Lasse's life is controlled by amphetamine - that's why he warns others not to start: 'My life is like a prison'

Lasse took his first line of amphetamine when he was 15.

Today he is in his late twenties, and although he has previously had a steady job and various internships, the drugs – and especially speed, as amphetamine is also called – have more or less followed him ever since.

Today his daily life has almost come to a standstill.

At the same time, he has periodically committed crime to finance the lines he snorts every day.

“I usually wake up around 10 a.m., and I already take the first few lines then. Then I take about one line every hour to maintain the high I’ve built up from the morning,” Lasse says.

“Then I spend the rest of the day on my phone, looking at Facebook or watching documentaries. Sometimes I work out.”

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It started as a party

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It was the drugs’ effect on Lasse’s self-confidence that made him keep going.

He believed in himself, was a better version of himself, could train more, and forgot negative feelings.

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Why the source is anonymous

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Lasse is not the source’s real name, but one that DR has given him.

He is anonymous because he talks about his addiction and criminal life. Including crimes for which he has not been convicted.

The editorial team is aware of his real identity and has seen documentation for the sentence he received in court.

In the film *Pusher*, he had seen the characters snort white powder and have a wild time. It made him curious, and he didn’t think about the consequences.

“Back then I felt it as a wild sensation in my body. Almost captivating. The natural stop sign – where the body says it’s tired – it wasn’t there.”

“But it goes very quickly from being a drug you take at parties to being a daily drug you are deeply addicted to.”

The consequences also came quickly for Lasse, and it is those he wants to talk about. To warn others about what it means to become addicted and to sell to others.

“Without the addiction, I wouldn’t have turned to crime,” he says.

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‘It feels like a prison’

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Lasse says his daily life today is controlled by amphetamine, and that it has also destroyed his relationship with his parents and siblings.

When he sits at family lunches or gatherings, his thoughts revolve around one thing.

When he can take the next line.

“The worst part of the addiction is that the whole life feels like a prison. It’s torture for me. I need it to have peace inside, and to even be able to do everyday things like washing dishes,” Lasse says.

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What is amphetamine?

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Amphetamine is an artificially produced (synthetic) substance. It affects the central nervous system by increasing the amount of signaling substances such as dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain.

The substance is related to cocaine and methamphetamine.

The effects of the substance are euphoria, energy, talkativeness, restlessness, increased sex drive, reduced feelings of hunger and fatigue.

The substance affects the brain, and heavy use can lead to anxiety, depression and psychosis.

Non-medical use of the substance, sale and production are illegal.

Source: Sundhed.dk.

One line snorted up the nose with a piece of paper from a notepad follows the next.

On his phone is a note where he continuously keeps track of what he can take in a day if his financial situation is to keep up.

Because he receives welfare benefits and tries to keep his consumption so he can live on the money and thus stay out of the crime he has committed in recent years.

He needs two to three grams a day to function. That is 20 to 30 lines. That means he spends over 7,000 kroner a month on the drugs.

“And then before I go to sleep, I usually take up to four lines to keep withdrawal symptoms away and get some peace to fall asleep.”

“Is amphetamine one of the cheapest?”

“Yes, you can get it for as little as 30-50 kroner per gram depending on the quality,” Lasse says. He is very aware that a lot of amphetamine is “cut” (diluted), so there is, for example, a lot of caffeine or creatine in it.

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Sold ‘the bad stuff’ on Snapchat

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It is not long ago that Lasse was sentenced to two months in prison. Because he has financed his addiction by, among other things, selling to others via social media.

On Snapchat it is easy to start an illegal “business”, and within a few minutes you can find several profiles in the Esbjerg area selling “amf”, “the bad stuff” or “down”.

And that is also what Lasse did.

“I started selling a few years ago. I created a Snapchat profile, and people applied to me. Within 24 hours I had 45 new customers. When you’re in it, you don’t see it as criminal.”

Watch *Kriminelt* about ‘Esbjerg on speed’, where DR also joins the police’s online patrol on the hunt for drugs:

*Kriminelt:* Esbjerg på speed ( https://www.dr.dk/drtv/episode/kriminelt_-esbjerg-paa-speed_626566 ) 11 NOV 2026 | 28M

He didn’t see himself as a pusher. He saw himself as a businessman with happy customers.

“But can you see today that it wasn’t that kind of business?”

“Yes, today I can see that it was criminal. That I was a pusher, and that it was wrong of me to run such a business where I profited from others’ addiction.”

Back then he sold to everyone from 15 years old up to 70, he says. He set the age limit at 15 because that was the same age he had started himself.

However, he cannot deny that he also sold to children under 15.

“How do you feel about that, because it’s terrible to sell to children?”

“I don’t feel good about it, but back then I only thought about the money, because I needed it to be able to take the drugs myself.”

When Lasse saw the indictment in his case and realized he would now receive a sentence for the crime, it made him think that he had to try a different path.

“I have it in black and white that what I did was wrong. So it sets off some thoughts in me that now is the time to figure out which path I should take.”

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Physically damaged, but hard to taper off

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For Lasse, looking ahead to a life without addiction also means that his still young body is already feeling the consequences.

“My mucous membranes are completely destroyed,” Lasse says.

From his nasal speech you can also hear that his nose is blocked, and that it affects his voice. At the same time, his physique is not what it used to be, even though he works out.

“In my daily life I can feel that my physical endurance is low. It doesn’t take much for my legs to get tired. I can have pain in all my muscles and joints. I easily get out of breath.”

Lasse says he also experiences tics.

Today his high also lasts much shorter when he takes a gram than it did when he started his addiction.

Yet he finds it hard to taper off.

“I want to stop and find a girlfriend. With the life I have now, it’s not possible to have a girlfriend. I wouldn’t wish a girlfriend to be on amphetamine. I would be giving her the downside of the coin.”

“What would it take for you to stop?”

“I don’t know. Maybe if I find the right one. Or if my family gave me an ultimatum. I do like the high, but at the same time I’m living in this prison. I only plan based on the next line.”

According to Lasse, it is the gang and biker environment that controls the market in and around Esbjerg when it comes to amphetamine. Lasse says he also had a contact in Germany from whom he could get amphetamine.

South and Southern Jutland Police say that it is also the police’s perception that organized criminals are behind the smuggling and sale of amphetamine in Esbjerg.

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.