Never Have I Ever, still going strong

Never Have I Ever is a popular game for inquisitive middle schoolers, high school athletes on long bus rides, and college kids who like to drink.

People gravitate toward drinking games because consuming booze isn’t quite entertaining enough. King’s Cup is a popular drinking game that involves a can of beer, a deck of cards, and a circle of friends. Game play involves taking turns drawing a card; each card correlates with a specific action. For example, the 2 card = “you.” When a player draws a 2, they pick someone (a.k.a. you) to drink with them. Every time player 1 takes a drink, player 2 must also take a sip of their beer.

The Jack has a reputation for being a fan-favorite; it’s mine, at the very least. When this devious face card is drawn, the entire group plays a rousing game of Never Have I Ever. The crowd goes wild.

If you’ve never played (or rather, never lived), here’s how the game-within-a-game works:

• Each person has three lives. They hold up three fingers to signify these lives.

Here is my go-to: “never have I ever tried marijuana.” Other variations include smoking pot, ingested weed, ate an edible, etc. You get it. I’ve stayed off the grass. Never even touched the stuff.

Plot twist: I write for a popular cannabis blog, working out of Denver, Colorado. I write about weed several times a week, though I’ve truly never tried it.

It’s a funny story: I found the job when surfing my university’s job board. It was a freelance writing gig, so I applied. It wasn’t until they asked me to write a sample piece that I realized the company was a resource within the cannabis industry. At first, I was unsure if I should go through with the interview, not knowing whether I would make it five minutes without showing my inexperience.

I decided to be upfront about it—I told them I didn’t want to be a fraud, and admitted to never smoking marijuana. They seemed to appreciate my honesty, and told me that it wasn’t a requirement, as long as I had great researching skills.

Luckily, I do. Here I am, over a year later, still pasting my byline all over this 420-friendly site. Even though I’ve written about everything from the best edible recipes to the science behind the endocannabinoid system, I’ve remained a cannabis virgin. And I like it that way.

I’ve got nothing against the green stuff; actually, I am a huge advocate for pro-cannabis legislation, decriminalization of marginalized people in jail, education, and both medicinal and recreational use. I’ll write about it as often as possible: let’s reform our country’s relationship with cannabis.

I’ve just simply never been interested in trying it. And if that changes, I’ll let you know. Until then, I’ll continue to have at least one finger up.