It was sophomore year of high school when I first thought I could be a rebel. I remember sitting at my best friend's house with her boyfriend of two seconds, when I was first introduced to marijuana. I thought to myself, “Wow how does Elizabeth know how to smoke and I don’t? Am I missing something here?” She turned to me and said, “Kiana try it. You’ll be fine.” I turned to her with a confused face, and asked her, “Will I be okay?” Her and her boyfriend looked at each other and laughed and said, “Of course you will! Take a hit!”
Fast forward to 20-year-old Kiana, thinking I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it wasn’t for the silly mistakes I’ve done. Growing up, I knew smoking marijuana was “natural” and better than any other drug, but it just wasn’t for me. And I was okay with that. It’s not for everyone, and as a young adolescent, you never know until you try. According to the Teen Rehab Center, “Many are reacting to peer pressure and believe turning to drugs and alcohol is how to become popular in high school.” There are so many kids that want to fit in with what everyone else is doing. But, in reality, you could be at risk for potentially hurting yourself.”
It was a summer ago when my friends and I came home from college. I was the sober one of course, and the rest of my three girlfriends wanted to do acid (LSD). I told them they were crazy and that I was not up for it, but they still insisted. The only thing was that one of them was trying it for the first time, and her name was Nikki. I already knew this was a bad idea because of the way she was. Nikki never was comfortable with herself and we knew she suffered from depression and anxiety in a way where it never got treated. She had an amazing family, an internship in San Diego, went to a great college, and was so smart, and all she wanted to do was have a relaxing day at home. But, one of my girlfriends who is a “pro” of taking anything and everything thought it was a good idea to give Nikki a little “tab” to ease her up, but soon after everything went downhill.
About an hour and a half later, we were laying at the beach, sand between our toes, and the sun glistening on the horizon, when Nikki yelled, “WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! IT’S TOO PERFECT!” She continued to yell this over and over, and we all looked at her confused, but immediately left to go grab something to eat. I remember speaking to the rest of my friends and mentioned to them that Nikki looked frightened. And she did, her eyes looked at me as if she didn’t know who I was. Her face looked so puzzled as she knew something was wrong, but couldn’t pinpoint it. I was scared.
We then started to drive, and I was the driver, while everyone else was attending to Nikki as she started blurting out weird comments reminding herself what her name was, who her brother is, and what kind of dog she had. She would get happy and scared and mad all at once. And then, it was complete silence. She didn’t recognize who she was with and immediately asked to leave or she would jump out of the truck. My two friends who were sitting beside her were holding her so tightly and asked me to just drive her home. We got her home and told her parents what happened and they immediately called 911. Nikki was sent to the hospital and was advised to stay over night. The next morning arrived, and we went to visit her at home once she was released. She had no idea what had happened. She woke up and felt that she had a bad dream and that was it. She continued to apologize to everyone and say that she’s sorry for ruining our day. And all we could care about was her and her well-being.
Alternet noted in their article, “The Dreaded Bad Trip,” “An altered state that you experience as terrifying is a bad trip that one may or may not be able to roll with just fine—and even then it isn’t fun.” Until this day, it is something that we don’t bring up amongst our friends. Not even as a joke or a memory to look back on, but it was a lesson learned experience. Although I was sober, I was more aware of what was going on and would never want that to happen to anyone else. “Don’t do drugs!”
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