007: "The Hippie Mafia"- Kiné C. shares her 6 yr story of addiction, drug abuse and alcoholism until she finds recovery!007: "The Hippie Mafia"- Kiné C. shares her 6 yr story of addiction, drug abuse and alcoholism until she finds recovery!
The SHAIR Recovery Podcast
Kiné C. recounts how teenage partying escalated into daily drinking, drugs and shoplifting before she found recovery in her early twenties. She talks about young people’s meetings, a brief relapse, and how honesty and community helped her build a hopeful, purposeful sober life.
56:33•31 Mar 2015
"The Hippie Mafia": Kiné C.’s Wild Youth and Early Sobriety at 21
Episode Overview
- Starting substance use in the mid‑teens can progress quickly from “weekend fun” to daily dependence, even when life still looks normal on the surface.
- Addiction often shows up in behaviours like hiding drinks, drinking alone and taking huge risks such as shoplifting or driving after drinking.
- Young people’s meetings and conferences can make sobriety feel social, exciting and sustainable rather than boring or isolating.
- Radical honesty about slips, like Kiné’s secret Vicodin, can deepen recovery and bring unexpected love and support from the fellowship.
- Service work and community involvement help many people stay sober while building a meaningful life with long‑term goals.
“It doesn’t matter how much I drink. What matters is that when I put it in my body, I want more.”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of how addiction can derail a promising life long before it looks "bad enough" from the outside. This SHAIR Recovery Podcast episode follows Kiné C., who at 25 has four and a half years sober and looks back on six intense years of alcohol and drug abuse that began at just 15.
You’ll hear how a high-achieving student government kid slowly drifted from lunchtime weed behind the school baseball fields to blackout drinking, cocaine, ecstasy and shrooms, all while trying to keep up the appearance of a normal teenager.
Once she moves to Oakland for college and gets the freedom she thought she wanted, things escalate fast: daily drinking, constant weed, and the birth of her shoplifting crew, hilariously (and sadly) named “The Hippie Mafia,” stealing alcohol from supermarkets to fund their habits. The conversation doesn’t stay in the chaos, though.
Kiné talks honestly about emotional bottoming out at 19, feeling like a “waste of space”, the failed attempt to white-knuckle sobriety, and the quiet but telling moment she absent‑mindedly swallowed a stolen Vicodin and then lied about it. Her admission of that slip, and the “unconditional love and support” she received in response, becomes a turning point where she really starts working a programme.
For anyone who worries they’re “too young” or “not bad enough” to quit, her story hits home. She shares how young people’s meetings, service work, conferences packed with thousands of sober young adults and a sponsor who got sober at 19 showed her that recovery could be fun, social and full of big dreams – including her own vision of helping her family and community in Senegal.
If you’re questioning your relationship with alcohol or drugs, especially in your teens or twenties, could Kiné’s story be the nudge you’ve been waiting for?
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