Recovery A Constant Challenge For Barry

"He does what a person that wants to stay clean does: He talks to me," Colbert said.

Did Barry ever stop using drugs? If so, what happened? It's impossible to know.

Colbert said Barry probably started feeling good again. "When you've been off a mood-changing chemical for a while, your health comes back, your skin color comes back, you feel healthy, and your body and your mind tell you that you're not that bad. You're okay."

In January, Barry returned to city hall, the backdrop for his days as power broker and wheeler-dealer, when he sometimes stayed out all night, drinking cognac and chasing women. Experts on addiction say the situation could trigger a desire for drugs along with feelings of invincibility.

"People start thinking, 'I'm different. I can still do it. Look, I'm mayor. I can get elected to the city council. I can control my use,' " said Frederic Blow, a psychiatry professor at the University of Michigan. "You might start using a little bit here, a little bit there. And then it gets out of control."

Blow studies substance abuse among older adults, who are seeking help for drug addiction in growing numbers. In 1992, fewer than 3,000 people over age 50 sought treatment for cocaine, for example; by 2002, that number had swelled to nearly 13,000, according to a survey by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

In part, the numbers reflect a larger elderly population. But statisticians say they also signal changes in the elderly population, as baby boomers who experimented with illicit drugs in their youth return to those drugs to relieve the boredom and depression of retirement and old age. The oldest baby boomers are turning 60 this year; Barry will be 70 in March.

Cocaine can be more dangerous at 69 than at 29. It hits harder, its effects last longer and it can aggravate other chronic conditions, including diabetes and high blood pressure. Anytime Barry uses the drug, one health specialist said, he is risking a heart attack.

But older addicts who seek help tend to do well, Blow said. "Many people say they really want to work on recovery again because they don't want to die an addict."

Three of the people most familiar with Barry's recovery -- his wife, Cora Masters Barry, and his onetime spiritual advisers the Rev. Willie F. Wilson and the Rev. Barbara Williams-Skinner -- declined to be interviewed for this story. Several other friends also declined to talk about Barry publicly, saying they were too disheartened by the news.

Newman, who once ranked among his closest confidants, is not optimistic about Barry's commitment to recovery. In a telephone interview from his home in Las Vegas, Newman described Barry as brilliant but undisciplined and "extremely spoiled," a thrill-seeker with "an incredible sense of entitlement" who revels in outwitting those around him.

"There's always a fine line between genius and self-destructive insanity. Marion has often walked that high wire," he said. "I'm absolutely convinced, after being close-up and personal . . . that part of the continuing allure and fascination [of drugs] for him has been the cat-and-mouse game."