Controversial AFL star and drug addict Ben Cousins claims his notorious 2007 arrest in Perth was "payback" from WA police.

He has also described the death of his friend and former West Coast player Chris Mainwaring in the same year as "a tragic accident".

In the first part of Cousins' much-anticipated documentary, the Brownlow Medallist insists he did not use drugs the night Mainwaring died.

Cousins has vehemently denied using performance-enhancing drugs, saying he used illicit drugs as a reward for training hard.

Channel Seven screened part one of "Such Is Life - The Ben Cousins Story" on Wednesday night and it is an incredibly-confronting account of Cousins' tumultuous life.

There is footage of Cousins smoking drugs, with part one covering Cousins' life up to his AFL suspension in late 2007.

The league suspended Cousins for 12 months a day after he was arrested in Perth and his car searched.

A TV camera was on hand as Cousins was led to a police car with his shirt off.

Cousins, called "The Prince Of Perth" in the documentary, had run from a booze bus the year before.

"Cars and coppers came from everywhere," Cousins said of his arrest.

"Northbridge (the site of the arrest) was payback for what had happened in the past."

The arrest came a few days after Mainwaring's death, with an autopsy finding drugs in his system.

"Out of nowhere, my great mate died, it was a crazy time, in my life, everything had stopped making sense," Cousins said.

Cousins says in the documentary there was "a lot of innuendo" about him being with Mainwaring on the night of his death.

"That's a cross I have had to bear," he said.

"I left him in a good state, I had no immediate concerns, it was a tragic accident."

Cousins has never tested positive for drugs and part one of the documentary does not detail how he beat the AFL's testing regime.

He said he never took drugs on game day or the day before.

"(Performance enhancing drug taking) goes against everything I believe in as a sportsman," he said.

Cousins reveals he took cocaine, ice, amphetamines and prescription drugs.

He said drugs were his "ultimate reward" after training hard for football.

Cousins won the 2005 Brownlow Medal with West Coast and played in their 2006 premiership side before the club sacked him in late 2007.

After his AFL suspension, he transferred to Richmond in 2008 and he will retire after this Sunday's game against Port Adelaide.

* Anyone with drug-related issues can visit the Australian Drug Foundation's website - www.adf.org.au.

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