How A Bad Trip at 16 Changed the Course of My Life

I took acid so you don't have to.

My older brother had been taking acid for years by the time I tried it. I wanted to be just like him — fearless, skeptical, brave — and to the greatest extent possible, I pretended that I was. I couldn’t pursue skating or BMXing — girls didn’t do those things in the Midlands in the 90s — so I went straight for the drugs. My best friend Jo Jo and I were committed hedonists. We’d already tried weed, speed and Es. Acid was next.

The question was how would we get it? And where would we take it? After all, we were kids.

Finally, the stars aligned. An older friend scored some Andy Warhols and my mum was away for the weekend. It was a Saturday in July. Perfect for our first trip. Except that when the day came, it was pissing it down.

“We should wait…” Older Friend said. “Tripping’s better on a sunny day…”

“Yeah, we probably should wait,” we agreed.

But the drugs were right here, close enough to touch.

“Fuck it,” Jo Jo said, and I laughed.

Who were we kidding? We pre…