Narcotica Podcast

The Drug War is more brutal than ever. Overdose deaths are still shattering records, there’s talk of war with the cartels, increased penalties are just making things worse, there’s little money for harm reduction programs or addiction treatment, yet plenty of cash for prisons, cops and the DEA, weird new drugs are appearing that no one knows how to handle and on and on. Meanwhile, the harm reduction movement is going through some massive changes, some good, some bad. But what we know for sure is that it’s critical for people to come together, stand up and demand a stop to the destructive force that is prohibition. On this episode, the crew interviews Louise Vincent, director of the NC Survivors Union in North Carolina and on the leadership team of the National Drug User Union, an organization of former and active drug users who have come together to provide services for a community that is under-represented and underserved. Narcotica’s Chris Moraff, Zach Siegel and Troy Farah talk with Louise about xylazine, drug testing, using portable oxygen tanks to reverse cocaine overdoses (yes, really!), methadone access, the importance of drug user unions, why drug sellers are a community service, what it was like being on Last Week Tonight and so much more. We’ve been trying to get Louise on for over a year and are really excited to share this episode with everyone. Thanks for listening. Expect more new episodes from us soon. Learn more about NC Survivors Union at http://ncurbansurvivorunion.org/ Learn more about Louise’s story here: https://drugpolicy.org/drugsellers/louise If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy: Episode 62: Policing Pleasure — The Intersection of Sex Work and Drug Use with Tamika Spellman and Caty Simon Episode 56: Drug Use During Disaster with Aaron Ferguson Episode 67: Methadone in the Time of Covid with Danielle Russell Follow Narcotica on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and support us on Patreon. We just opened a shop where you can order Narcotica merch: narcocast.myshopify.com Help keep this podcast ad-free! Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Rate us! And thanks for your support! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary Siegel, Aaron Ferguson Music: Glass Boy / Nomad1 Image: Vocal NY via Flickr // edit: Troy Farah Intro voice: Jenny Schaye The post Episode 82: Drug War Activism and the Future of Harm Reduction with Louise Vincent appeared first on Narcotica.

Harm reduction is an imperfect philosophy that serves as the only wedge between prohibition and what we all really want, which is a healthy, productive society. If more police and prisons could make drugs safer, we’d have a lot less overdose deaths and problematic addiction. But that’s not what’s happening. Drugs are more available than ever, while overdose deaths continue to shatter records. If this is a war, we lost long ago. (Of course, as we repeatedly emphasize on this show, not all drug use is addiction and in fact, most of it isn’t.) Instead we have the prison-industrial complex. We have cops and judges that take on the role of doctors. We have a system that is designed to oppress, marginalize and criminalize rational human behavior. Yet, harm reduction in prisons — arguably the one place where it is needed most — is almost completely absent. On today’s episode, Narcotica co-host Troy Farah spoke to someone who is sadly, currently behind bars. Because of that, we are using their adopted pseudonym, C. Dreams. C. is a writer and advocate interested in prison and criminal justice reform, LGBTQ rights, harm reduction and government and cultural criticism. She has studied history and theology with the Third Order of Carmelites and completed degrees in Systematic Theology and is currently studying law. C. has some brilliant writing being published in Filter Magazine. They talk all about drug use in prisons, from K2 to fentanyl, a positive methamphetamine story, the problems with lack of syringe access, let alone access to buprenorphine or methadone, and much much more. Follow C. on Twitter at: @UnCagedCritique Read C’s writing in Filter Magazine here: https://filtermag.org/author/c-dreams/ If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy: Episode 26: Housing As Harm Reduction Episode 75: Copaganda — The Favorite Tool of Drug Warriors with Alec Karakatsanis Episode 45: Overdose Is Tragic, Not Murder with Morgan Godvin Follow Narcotica on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and support us on Patreon. We just opened a shop where you can order Narcotica merch: narcocast.myshopify.com Help keep this podcast ad-free! Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Rate us! And thanks for your support! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary Siegel, Aaron Ferguson Music: Glass Boy / Nomad1 Image: Shannon O’Toole via Flickr // edit: Troy Farah Intro voice: Jenny Schaye The post Episode 81: Harm Reduction Against the Prison-Industrial Complex appeared first on Narcotica.

Dr. Zoe Adams, an internal medicine resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, joins the crew to discuss the messy history of methadone. They explore its origins, the stigma surrounding it, and the complex nature of addiction. They also delve into Nixon's surprising support for methadone programs and the harsh realities of methadone clinics. The impact of COVID-19 on methadone treatment and efforts to expand access are also covered. The podcast provides a fascinating look at the challenges and potential improvements in the field of addiction medicine.

People have this conception that San Francisco’s streets are just overflowing with human shit and people injecting drugs in the open. Stereotypes about California being overrun with homeless encampments and open-air drug markets abound, as if these things don’t exist in other states, while politicians in Arkansas and Oklahoma, for example, warn against so-called progressive policies infecting the midwest. But how true is all this? San Francisco in particular is associated with progressive policy, especially when it comes to drugs. From the chill vibes of Haight-Ashbury and Hippie Hill to opening Prevention Point in 1988, the Golden Gate city has long been a leader on certain drug issues. But not always. On this episode of Narcotica, Troy Farah speaks with Dr. Isaac Jackson, a community organizer who has over a decade of experience working with drug users. He has been instrumental in starting two drug user organizations (San Francisco Drug Users Union in 2010 and the San Francisco branch of the Urban Survivors Union in 2013). As leader of the Urban Survivors Union in San Francisco, Jackson has spearheaded a crack pipe distribution program and so much more, he has a lot of interesting history to share. The conversation meanders all over the place and doesn’t really stick on California too much, but that’s the main throughline in discussing Jackson’s unique history and connection to this beautiful region of America. If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy: Episode 69: The Promise and Peril of the Psychedelic Mainstream with Shelby Hartman and Madison Margolin Episode 64: LSD And Psilocybin For Physical Pain? with Greg McKee and Dr. Johannes Ramaekers Episode 44: Reimagining Public Health and Racial Justice with Dr. Ricky Bluthenthal Follow Narcotica on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and support us on Patreon. We just opened a shop where you can order Narcotica merch: narcocast.myshopify.com Help keep this podcast ad-free! Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Rate us! And thanks for your support! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary Siegel, Aaron Ferguson Music: Glass Boy / Nomad1 Intro voice: Jenny Schaye Image: The Noun Project // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 79: Is California Really Progressive on Drugs? with Dr. Isaac Jackson appeared first on Narcotica.

A future where abortion drugs like mifepristone and misoprostol are trafficked just like fentanyl or methamphetamine or where birth control is sold on the street corner like crack cocaine is really not that distant of a reality, if it’s not already happening. The drug war is deeply intertwined with reproductive rights. That’s not always obvious to some people, but at Narcotica, we will emphasize over and over that bodily autonomy — the core of harm reduction and progressive drug policy — includes abortion access and reproductive sovereignty as much it includes the human right to freely use drugs. On this episode, Narcotica co-host Troy Farah speaks with Dinah Ortiz, an Afrolatinx drug user activist who has fought for over 14 years for impacted communities. After her role as supervisor at the Bronx Defenders Family Defense Practice, Dinah began doing consultant work as a drug user organizer and activist who has shared her story of parenting during past chaotic substance use nationally and is a fierce advocate for parents in the child regulation system. She is currently the co-chair on the North Carolina’s Survivors Union board of directors and leadership team member of Urban Survivors Union. Follow Dinah on Twitter at: @Dinahortiz4 If you need to obtain abortion pills, for any reason, for yourself, for your mother, for your sister, or your neighbor, go to PlanCPills.org or AidAccess.org. Join an Urban Survivor’s Union call by going here: https://www.druguservoice.org/blank-page-3 If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy: Episode 24: How To Get Abortion Pills Feat. Lynn Paltrow and Francine Coeytaux Episode 60: Perinatal Panic—Drugs, Pregnancy and Stigma with Ria Tsinas, Joelle Puccio and Erika Goyer Episode 48: Moms And Methadone with Elizabeth Brico Follow Narcotica on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and support us on Patreon. We just opened a shop where you can order Narcotica merch: narcocast.myshopify.com Help keep this podcast ad-free! Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Rate us! And thanks for your support! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary Siegel, Aaron Ferguson Music: Glass Boy / Nomad1 Intro voice: Jenny Schaye Image: Jeff Roberson // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 78: Drug Use in a Post-Roe World with Dinah Ortiz appeared first on Narcotica.

The United States sure loves to cage people. Incarceration statistics can be shocking, but they can be cited so often that they can lose their potency. It can seem abstract or just the way things are. But it is completely immoral that the U.S. throws more people into cages than any other country for which we have reliable data. In order to partially address this problem, some jurisdictions have promoted the idea of drug courts, which the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services defines as “alternative to incarceration, drug courts reduce the burden and costs of repeatedly processing low‐level, non‐violent offenders through the nation’s courts, jails, and prisons while providing offenders an opportunity to receive treatment and education.” Sounds great, right? Well, as you’ll learn on today’s episode, drug courts come with their own set of problems, and in some ways, can make situations worse. Narcotica co-hosts Chris Moraff and Troy Farah speak with Dave Lucas, a clinical advisor, social work educator, and therapist committed to reducing the harms of the criminal legal and substance use treatment systems. He serves as a Clinical Advisor with the Health and Justice Action Lab. They discuss drug testing, Measure 110 in Oregon, MAT in courtrooms, synthetic cannabinoids, what drug courts actually get right and much more. Follow Dave on Twitter at: @davidewlucas If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy: Episode 45: Overdose Is Tragic, Not Murder with Morgan Godvin Episode 73: Oh No! Not Naltrexone! with Nancy Curran Episode 14: Harm Reduction Dies in Darkness—Jeff Deeney Follow Narcotica on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and support us on Patreon. We just opened a shop where you can order Narcotica merch: narcocast.myshopify.com Help keep this podcast ad-free! Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Rate us! And thanks for your support! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary Siegel, Aaron Ferguson Music: Glass Boy / Nomad1 Intro voice: Jenny Schaye Image: The Noun Project edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 77: Harm Production — The Hazards of Drug Courts with Dave Lucas appeared first on Narcotica.

Certain celebrity authors want to help you accept that certain drug use is OK—and there’s nothing wrong with psychedelic exceptionalism, but it overlooks the biggest destructive forces of the drug war. Yet, legalizing drugs like meth, heroin and cocaine remains a hard sell for even the most progressive of drug policy reformers. So how do we cross this bridge? Narcotica co-host Chris Moraff speaks with Veronica Wright, founder of the National Coalition for Drug Legalization. They discuss how prohibition is far worse than the drugs deemed too dangerous for public consumption, and only works to worsen health inequities and harms from drug use. However, the transition from prohibition to a future where drug use isn’t criminalized won’t be easy. Veronica shares what helped her change her mind on this issue and the future of drug use that she envisions. Follow Veronica on Twitter at: @veronicawright8 and visit the National Coalition for Drug Legalization’s website here: https://www.nationalcoalitionfordruglegalization.org/ If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy: Episode 51: The Joy of Drug Use with Dr. Carl Hart Episode 68: Is The Drug War Getting Better… Or Worse? with Zach Siegel, Chris Moraff and Troy Farah Episode 58: How Racism Fuels The Drug War with Kassandra Frederique Follow Narcotica on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and support us on Patreon. We just opened a shop where you can order Narcotica merch: narcocast.myshopify.com Help keep this podcast ad-free! Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Rate us! And thanks for your support! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary Siegel Co-producer: Garrett Farah Music: Glass Boy / Waves Intro voice: Jenny Schaye Image: The Noun Project edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 76: How To Change Your Mind About ALL Drugs with Veronica Wright appeared first on Narcotica.

No matter what the problem is, whether it’s fentanyl overdoses or mass shootings, the solution to all of our problems is always more money and bigger budgets for police, prosecutors and prisons. Funny how that works, right? If crime goes up we need police, if crime goes down it’s because of the police, so we still need more police. They can’t lose! One of the main ways public support for police is so insidious has to do with police propaganda (e.g. copaganda) but it can be hard to detect, let alone debunk, these powerful tools of controlling public opinion. Understanding how this works is crucial to any aspect of drug policy reform and holding accountable the journalists who perpetuate copaganda is an important step in undoing the harms of police states. On this episode of Narcotica, co-hosts Zachary Siegel and Troy Farah talk with Alec Karakatsanis, the founder and executive director of Civil Rights Corps, a non-profit organization dedicated to challenging systemic injustice in the United States’ legal system–a system that is built on white supremacy and economic inequality. Alec has helped challenge the money bail system in California and is the author of the book Usual Cruelty. He is passionate about ending human caging, surveillance, police, the death penalty, immigration laws, war, and inequality, and he has made debunking copaganda into an artform. Follow Alec on Twitter at: @equalityAlec and read his newsletter here: https://equalityalec.substack.com/ If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy: Episode 58: How Racism Fuels The Drug War with Kassandra Frederique Episode 47: Can Harm Reduction and Cops Coexist? Episode 62: Policing Pleasure — The Intersection of Sex Work and Drug Use with Tamika Spellman and Caty Simon Follow Narcotica on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and support us on Patreon. We just opened a shop where you can order Narcotica merch: narcocast.myshopify.com Help keep this podcast ad-free! Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Rate us! And thanks for your support! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary Siegel Co-producer: Aaron Ferguson Music: Glass Boy / Nomad1 Intro voice: Jenny Schaye Image: The Noun Project edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 75: Copaganda — The Favorite Tool of Drug Warriors with Alec Karakatsanis appeared first on Narcotica.

For good reason, about 150 million people use cannabis, according to the World Health Organization. That’s around 3 percent of the global population or the entire population of Russia. In most places, smoking the flowers or extracts of this plant can come with some steep legal consequences: long prison sentences, heavy fines, loss of civil rights, the state may take away your kids or deny you medical care. You may even get executed. For some of us, especially if we live in places where cannabis is legal, such dire consequences for using cannabis can seem like a distant nightmare. But even as we slowly emerge from the dark ages of marijuana prohibition, we’re encountering entirely predictable problems: unchecked capitalist greed. So yes, while it’s worth celebrating our emergence from the dark ages of cannabis prohibition, we risk entering into different forms of prohibition, oppression and inequality at the hands of the so-called “free market.” Narcotica co-host Troy Farah talks with Shaleen Title, an Indian-American attorney and longtime drug policy activist who has been writing, passing, and implementing equitable cannabis laws for over 20 years. She is a former top regulator for the state of Massachusetts, where she served as commissioner of the Cannabis Control Commission from 2017 to 2020. She is the author of “Fair and Square: How to Effectively Incorporate Social Equity Into Cannabis Laws and Regulations” and “Bigger is Not Better: Preventing Monopolies in the National Cannabis Market.”  Currently, her primary focus is running the nonprofit think tank Parabola Center, which pushes for cannabis policies to protect people rather than corporate profits. Follow Shaleen on Twitter at: @shaleentitle Read Bigger is Not Better: Preventing Monopolies in the National Cannabis Market If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy: Episode 63: Delta-8-THC And Other Obscure Cannabinoids with Jason Wilson Episode 58: How Racism Fuels The Drug War with Kassandra Frederique Episode 53: A Life of Getting Lit with Tommy Chong Follow Narcotica on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and support us on Patreon. We just opened a shop where you can order Narcotica merch: narcocast.myshopify.com Help keep this podcast ad-free! Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Rate us! And thanks for your support! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary Siegel Co-producer: Aaron Ferguson Music: Glass Boy / Nomad1 Intro voice: Jenny Schaye Image: edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 74: Cannabis And Capitalism — Preventing Another Big Tobacco with Shaleen Title appeared first on Narcotica.

Naltrexone, also known by its brand name, Vivitrol, is an opioid antagonist that kicks opioids off of opioid receptor in the brain, not unlike naloxone. But thanks to a combination of overprescription, unscrupulous marketing practices and ubiquitous use over more effective alternatives, naltrexone is a very controversial drug. In fact, a common reaction is Oh no! Not naltrexone! Of course, naltrexone has some benefits and many people say their life has been saved by it. And at Narcotica, we don’t believe any drug is “bad” or “evil.” So where does this substance fit into the broader scheme of things? We’ve spoken about naltrexone many times on this show, but never this indepth before. Narcotica co-hosts Zachary Siegel and Troy Farah speak with Nancy Curran, a nurse practitioner who has been practicing for 5 years in an OBOT clinic in the Lowell Massachusetts area, treating both opioid and alcohol use disorders. She prescribes buprenorphine (both Suboxone and Sublocade), as well as naltrexone (Vivitrol). She also treats patients who need Hep C treatment. Nancy is passionate about advocating for and educating her patients on their medication options, as well as their rights. They discuss the history of hallucinogenic opioids, the shrewd and quasilegal marketing practices of Alkermes, Inc., how naltrexone stacks up against buprenorphine and methadone, why stigma persists against people who take certain opioid use disorder drugs but not others, the difference between addiction and dependency, some basic opioid receptor science, and much, much more. Follow Nancy on Twitter at: @cashboygo More background on naltrexone and the XBOT Studay can be found here and here. We also recommend reading Walter Sneader’s book: Drug Discovery, A History and also Nancy Campbell’s book OD: The Politics of Overdose. You can read Zach’s article on Four Good Days and more here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/magazine/addiction-movies.html If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy: Episode 19: Debunking Bupe Diversion Myths with Molly Doernberg Episode 30: Getting Wrecked with Dr. Kim Sue Episode 36: Moral Hazards and Naloxone, A Toxicologist’s Perspective with Ryan Marino Follow Narcotica on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and support us on Patreon. We just opened a shop where you can order Narcotica merch: narcocast.myshopify.com Help keep this podcast ad-free! Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Rate us! And thanks for your support! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary Siegel Co-producer: Aaron Ferguson Music: Glass Boy / Nomad1 Intro voice: Jenny Schaye Image: edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 73: Oh No! Not Naltrexone! with Nancy Curran appeared first on Narcotica.