Hallucinating Away a Heroin Addiction
Vision Quest
Jeffrey Arguedas and Gabriela Téllez
This 18-year-old is about to begin a three-day, neo-African, sometimes-terrifying, ritualistic trip. Can it help her get clean?
PART I
It’s been 56 hours since Grace Bergere’s last shot of heroin—too long.
Curled into a fetal position on an outdoor, candle-lit matt in Costa Rica, the 18-year-old trembles in fear. A petrified grimace wrinkles the white clay adorning her face. Her rail thin body, wrapped in a ceremonial red sheet, looks paralyzed at points—then, without warning, her limbs thrash in revolt, as she tries to keep the demons haunting her at bay. But it’s too late. The demons are just getting started.
