A bad trip: legalize it?

By: Tatiana Wilson

Posted: 10/29/09

I have never in my life been a marijuana smoker, but over the last few weeks I've engaged in a few smoke sessions with friends. Every time someone asked me "what are you doing smoking!?" I'd give the excuse that it calms my bad nerves.

Just a few days ago that's all it did until it took me on a trip I didn't bargain for.

I was sitting and watching TV with a cousin on a Sunday evening, smoking a joint she had got from a friend, when it started to feel like I could physically feel myself getting higher and higher. I got to a point where I was so high that it scared me.

Panting and starting to feel like I was going to have an anxiety attack, I got up and went to my room to lay down, thinking it would eventually wear off.

Within seconds my mind started to race and my heart started to beat so loud and fast that I thought it would jump out of my chest. It felt like I didn't have full control of my thoughts that seemed like they were going 100 miles per minute.

Behind the mind racing I could hear my conscience telling me that something was wrong. I went to get a glass of water and catch some fresh air outside--maybe that would calm me down.

Once I got outside, I began to see dark shadows racing along the streets. At this point I knew I was hallucinating.

I called my boyfriend, rushing him to get to me before I did something regretful without any control of my mind, or myself because my thoughts were telling me to do something crazy.

I was too afraid to call the ambulance because they would have definitely admitted me to the psychiatric ward for being crazy and seeing things.

For a full two hours I had tripped out as a result of smoking marijuana. I had temporarily gone insane.

A few weeks ago I was all for legalizing it, but it's dangerous and unsafe.

Whether it was because marijuana didn't sit well with me personally or it was just bad weed, it's still a mind-altering drug and flowing through the hands of different people there is no telling what type of chemicals could be possibly mixed with it.

They sure won't get my vote to legalize it.