Nicole Hansen had run for Miss Utah Teen twice before. In March, 2001, the title was hers.
“This time, I needed it,” Hansen said.
Hansen felt she “needed” the title because?as Miss Utah Teen?she is able to publicly speak about an issue she feels is very important.
At age 18, Hansen has taken it upon herself to relay the message to as many people as she can of the harmful effects of club drugs. As Miss Teen Utah, if Hansen wants to talk to the governor or his wife, all she has to is call.
On Tuesday night, Hansen brought her message to Heritage Commons in a speech sponsored by the Alcohol and Drug Education Center. About 20 students and parents attended.
Hansen talked about her own experiences with drugs. When she was younger, she never had the desire to try drugs before.
“I knew what it did to people. I saw what it did to families,” she said.
Last year, friends on the “club” scene introduced her to the drug known as ecstasy. Soon, she was attending parties and clubs weekly where ecstasy?taken as a small pill?was provided in abundance.
“The more I was around it, the more it seemed OK,” Hansen said.
Last summer, Hansen tried ecstasy for the first time. “The first time, you get a high you’ll never know,” she said. “From then on, it got worse.”
For drug users, priorities are non-existent, Hansen said. “It’s always changing gradually. You don’t notice until it’s too late, or hard to stop.”
Hansen said she used ecstasy for about four or five months. Her wake-up call came one night when she overdosed on GHB?the date rape drug.
She was at a small house party when she took a drink out of a full, open can of Red Bull. After that, she blacked out.
“I don’t remember anything,” Hansen said.
She was told, later, that she was laid aside in the bathroom until the owner of the house found her and took her to the Emergency Room at LDS Hospital.
Hansen had stopped breathing upon reaching the ER, she said. Tests to see whether she had been raped all came out negative.
“After that, I decided I had to change what I was doing,” Hansen said. “I’m ashamed it took that to wake me up.”
Because of the incident, Hansen has a difficult time remembering things. “I can’t compose the majority of my thoughts,” she said.
Hansen, who has appeared on “The Montel Williams Show” and “The Doug Wright Show,” devotes a large portion of her time to speaking about the effects of drugs on students.
“I’m doing this to educate people, and because every time I do it, I believe it even more,” Hansen said.