By Nicole Bergman
Fall 2013 Kaplan Award Winner
Four college sophomores are seated in a white Subaru outback headed East. The right passenger seat is folded down to make room for the hockey bags stacked in the trunk, forcing Jack and Ethan to sit uncomfortably close to each other. Spencer reaches back and hands the bong to Ethan; he takes a long rip and coughs excessively. The compartment becomes hazy with smoke. The bong is passed a few more times between the four of them before the engine and a calm state of mind lull Ethan, Jack, and Spencer to sleep. The driver, Elijah, is left to navigate on his own.
Marijuana, which comes from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, is the most frequently used illegal drug in the U.S. About 4% of American adults smoke marijuana at least once a year. Roughly 1% of adults abuse marijuana, and one in 300 have an addiction to marijuana. THC is rapidly absorbed after smoking marijuana. Within minutes, THC and the other substances in marijuana smoke cause short-term medical effects. One of the effects is slowed reaction time.
The route itself is flat and monotonous; the lifeless landscape to the left of the continuous freeway reflects the same desolate land on the right. After three hours, the view is mind numbing. Elijah realizes he has missed the exit. In an effort to redeem himself, he pulls up directions on his phone while he maneuvers the steering wheel; non-existent traffic justifies the decision to multi-task. Typing letters into the Google maps search bar, Elijah fails to notice the shrinking gap between the front bumper of his Subaru and the trunk of a black Chevy coupe in front. As the two cars are about to hit, he looks up, drops the phone and slams his foot on the brakes. The car swerves to the left, propelling Spencer’s head against the window. Ethan and Jack awake to the fishtail movement of the car, the back moving ever closer to the edge of the road. The car now at forty miles an hour turns on the shoulder and the wheels catch an edge. It flips.
Everything goes blank. Bracing himself, Elijah hears nothing, feels nothing. The Subaru lands upside down with the driver’s side caving inwards. Elijah crawls out the window, while the rest of them are able to scramble out a door. Disoriented as he is, Elijah scans his group of friends to confirm no one is severely injured. He hardly notices the cars stopped in front or the flashing sirens approaching from afar. Everything feels like it is in fast-forward while they are motionless in the middle of it all. How could this happen?
The police arrive and begin to question each of them individually. After establishing that Elijah is the driver and is under the influence of marijuana, he is handcuffed and placed in the back of the police car. As the police search the vehicle, they find a bong, edibles, two cannabis sodas, ten grams of marijuana, and a pipe. The illegal items belong to Ethan, Jack, and Elijah; each of them claims their items. Jack and Ethan are charged with a Minor In Possession (MIP), while Elijah is charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI). That day will never be forgotten.
Last year in the state of Washington, the state toxicology lab obtained 1,431 THC-positive samples from suspected impaired drivers over six months when the average is about 1,000 over a year. According to a study published in the October issue of Epidemiologic Reviews, researchers found that drivers who test positive for marijuana within three hours of using are more than twice as likely to be involved in a motor vehicle crash. The study also shows that the crash risk is higher if the marijuana concentration levels found in the urine are higher.
Months later, Elijah still relives the moment when he looked up and realized they were going to crash. The remembrance sends a shudder through him. Replaying the thought that Ethan, Jack, and Spencer may not have survived haunts Elijah, especially considering that Jack and Ethan were not wearing seatbelts and that the car flipped two and a half times.
Epidemiological research indicates that cannabis is the most prevalent illicit drug detected in fatally injured drivers and motor vehicle crash victims. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Marijuana is involved in about 18% of motor vehicle driver deaths in the United States.
* * *
Colton is at a concert. Electro-beats are pulsating through the room and bright green and red lights are flashing across the crowd. In the center of it all, Colton’s senses begin to drag; his sight is delayed, the music slows, and his body feels detached. The beats steadily become harsher and the surrounding people begin to morph into devilish creatures. The sensory overload triumphs over Colton’s consciousness and negative thoughts begin to stir in his brain. He panics. An empty spot along the wall surrounding the whirl of the crowd catches his attention. With as much concentration as he is able to harness, Colton moves to that spot. The LSD he took two hours previously has crept up on him. The walls are melting, the cracked ceiling is breathing, and creatures haunt him everywhere. Unable to control his racing thoughts, Colton staggers outside.
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD, also known colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family. It is well known for its psychological effects that can include altered thinking processes, closed- and open-eye visuals, synesthesia, an altered sense of time and spiritual experiences. Discovered in 1938, LSD is one of the most potent mood-changing chemicals.
A gust of chill air blows over him, flushing out everything. He is okay now. He regains control of his surroundings, and the open space makes widening his focus on the world possible. The trees lining the street are dancing; their branches elegantly outstretched resemble that of a ballerina. The glowing structure in the distance is a Ferris wheel, but to Colton, it is an unearthly structure of effulgent cerulean light. He wants to see more and walks towards it. Each step he takes closer to the Ferris wheel sends a stronger blast of wind to his face and down through his sweat-drenched clothes. It is a stressful feeling. His body shivers and his teeth are clenched. Instantly his mood changes from awe to anxiety. Colton snaps back into reality and realizes he needs to get relocated, forgetting the Ferris wheel completely.
LSD has been known to cause behavioral fatalities, including accidents and deaths resulting from inebriated behavior. Because LSD can alter judgment, people can and do engage in dangerous behavior while on LSD or as they come down. Especially at high doses, LSD can radically alter perception of reality, link normally disconnected ideas, and trigger questioning of basic assumptions about the world.
The concert venue is in the middle of downtown Seattle and Colton finds himself confused. He asks himself, which way is North? He walks towards a bright red sign that has some familiarity. He rounds the block, believing it is the right way. Ten minutes later, he finds himself at the same red sign. His heartbeat quickens and the shivers return. The fear of being lost lingers behind a jumble of amassed emotions. He approaches a stoplight. His mind becomes fixed on the speeding cars driving dangerously close to where he is standing. Are the cars going to hit me? Does the man standing across from me know I took LSD? Should I run? Where should I go? What’s that noise? Am I hearing things? Is this normal? Is this a bad trip? Where is home? I don’t feel safe. Preoccupied by the stress of not knowing where he is, Colton stands frozen in place. After some time, he grows aware again. He knows which direction to walk and he goes on.
Once Colton reaches his own neighborhood things become calm, clear and his ability to appreciate his surroundings unfolds. He stops at a puddle. The dead leaves intertwine with each other, creating ever-changing patterns and colors; their dimensions change to form a thick, orange-brown liquid that slithers along the concrete. Focusing too hard on any one aspect of an object is over stimulating. Colton keeps walking. At home, familiar surroundings and friends comfort him, and he starts to relax. The LSD trip has changed. It is internal, ethereal. The mug on the table, the painting on the wall of his room, and the very chair Colton is sitting in have their own aura. Each pattern, each texture, each shape is unexplainably entrancing. The LSD is sensational.
The number of past year initiates of LSD aged 12 or older was 421,000 in 2012. Among young adults aged 18 to 25, the rate of illicit drug dependence or abuse was 7.8 percent in 2012. Is the promise of beautiful visuals and a dramatically new way of thinking causing 7.8 percent of college age students to want to experiment with hallucinogenic drugs?
* * *
As she stands in the middle of an ice rink, temporarily transformed into a concert hall, beams of jazzy light projected from the stage to the ceiling mesmerize Amelia; opalescent greens and blues overlap with fiery reds and yellows to form a dream-like setting. The light becomes more intense and so too does Amelia’s condition. Energy rushes through her body. She begins to grin uncontrollably. She feels different, better. She can’t quite place it. The ecstasy coursing through her body is producing an artificial happiness that is impenetrable, nothing can get her down.
“Ecstasy” is a slang term for MDMA, short for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, a name that is nearly as long as the all-night parties where MDMA is often used. The drug increases serotonin and dopamine levels in the limbic system and may induce euphoria, a sense of intimacy with others, diminished anxiety, and mild psychedelia.
Amelia is at a Pretty Lights concert with her boyfriend. Both of them have taken ecstasy and are deeply enchanted by each other. Their bodies move in harmony to the bass-heavy music. She turns around to face him. She places her hands on his face and his silk-like skin meets them. Amelia’s hands continue to fondle his chiseled jaw; the sensation is wondrous. She moves them down to his abdominal region, letting the tip of her fingers run slowly across each bulging muscle. She is incapable of letting go of him.
They move through the crowd of people still attached to each other. Among the strangers, one face is familiar. An old friend from Alaska, Kristin, is standing in front of her. Kristin’s short brown hair hugs her face with her flowered headband neatly keeping everything in order; the light dances across her cheekbones and she is beautiful. Senior year of high school, Kristin was diagnosed with a soft-tissue sarcoma, a cancer that develops from certain muscle tissues. A sense of gratitude overwhelms Amelia and the two embrace each other. Her euphoria increases. By chance, Amelia and Kristin share this surreal moment together; they are two out of 6,500 people standing in the ShoWare Center. Amelia realizing that it is a moment that may never be possible again, hugs Kristin even tighter. Never before has she felt such elation. Psychedelic lasers continue to flicker across the ceiling in harmony with the music, and for a little while Amelia is convinced they are the only two in the room.
The experience was perfect. Amelia’s relationship with her boyfriend deepened to a spiritual level, unachievable in a sober state. The same effect was had with Kristin, but the far more developed emotional history between the two made the experience indelible.
Makers and sellers of the MDMA often cut it with dangerous substances such as amphetamines, cocaine, caffeine, and PCP. Government data show that the number of emergency room visits by people who had taken MDMA increased 123 percent from 2005 to 2009, the most recent year for which statistics are available.
* * *
Taking drugs in college is a rite of passage for many young people. College is a situation where curiosity is prized, and experimentation with drugs in social settings often comes along with investigations of new ideas in the classroom. The unknown is what draws us towards such experiences; drugs are often unpredictable and there is simply one way to know how they will affect you, which is to try it. It is a situation where there is high risk, but also high reward; taking a drug may result in you having the time of your life or it may also result in you having the worst time of your life, both equally as memorable. This is what makes it so enticing, you never know if your experience will be good or bad until you take the drug.
Sadly, Elijah experienced the risk when smoking marijuana. Elijah made the decision to drive high to make the trip more interesting; as a result, he zoned out on his phone and flipped his car, nearly killing three others in the process. Now he faces a DUI charge that will stay with him forever. Colton, on the other hand, encountered some risk and some reward while taking LSD. Risk was involved when he found himself lost and in a hypothermic state in the middle of downtown Seattle, while coping with a sensory overload he never experienced before; the probability of him never finding his way home and even death was high. However, reward came later when Colton was in the comfort of his room and could admire the eye-opening, psychedelic effects of LSD. Amelia was fortunate enough to solely feel the rewards of ecstasy. The concert was one of the happiest moments she has encountered. Not only because of the lights and the music, but also because of the new bond she now has with her boyfriend and with Kristin.
Indeed, each of the three drugs taken was different, affecting the mind and body in various ways. Nevertheless, in each case, the people I interviewed could have had experiences, both good and bad, while on their separate substance. Elijah may well have finished the drive without any disturbances if the black Chevy coop had not been on the road that day. Colton may never have found home, and may not be alive today; he may also have loved the concert and stayed until the end. Amelia may have gotten sick from the ecstasy if the batch was poorly made or she may have been dehydrated and hospitalized. Some drugs are not better than others. Each one holds the same amount of risk and reward. You will never know which outcome you will experience until it’s too late, no matter how experienced of a user you are. The only thing that is certain is that nothing is certain when taking substances that are meant to alter your state of being. That is the beauty of it all.