Narcotica Podcast

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.

Ed Prideaux, an expert in Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder, discusses the symptoms, challenges, and risks associated with this condition. They explore the difficulties of conducting clinical trials on psychedelics, critique mental health labels, and discuss the potential of psychedelics in addressing the mental health crisis. The podcast also highlights the importance of accessibility to mental health services for individuals who take psychedelics.

It’s easy to hate the massive pharmaceutical corporations that extract obscene profit from the healthcare system—and there are many, many reasons why you should distrust these companies, although the situation is far more complex than “Big Pharma = bad.” But how did we get here? How did medical care get so expensive, so complicated and sometimes, so harmful? Narcotica co-host Troy Farah speaks with Dr. John Abramson, a long-time critic of Big Pharma, whose new book Sickening untangles the many perverse incentives that dominate American healthcare. It helps explain why drug prices are so high, why medications that harm instead of heal are regularly approved by the FDA and much more, starting with the recent debacle over Aduhelm, an extremely controversial Alzheimer’s drug. Follow Dr. Abramson on Twitter: @DrJohnAbramson and get Sickening: ow Big Pharma Broke American Health Care and How We Can Repair It here. You can read Troy’s review of Sickening on Undark Magazine here: https://undark.org/2022/03/18/book-review-sickening/ If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy: Episode 46: Behind The Pharmacists’ Counter with Jessica Moreno Episode 30: Getting Wrecked with Dr. Kim Sue Episode 65: Restoring Trust in Doctors Amidst The Overdose Crisis with Dr. Ben Cocchiaro and Dr. Ashish Thakrar Follow Narcotica on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and support us on Patreon. 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: Rudolf Ammann / Flickr // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 71: Aduhelm, Obscene Drug Prices and Big Pharma Tactics with Dr. John Abramson appeared first on Narcotica.

Imagine banning a chemical that we all make in our bodies. But that’s exactly where drug war logic takes us and why testosterone is Schedule III on the Controlled Substances Act, alongside ketamine and buprenorphine. Testosterone is painted as some dangerous substance that must be locked up. These outlandish fears led to restrictive laws which lead to criminalization and barriers to access—essentially criminalizing identity and the very bodies we inhabit. But bans on testosterone, ostensibly to stop athletes from boosting their competitive abilities, can have real world impacts, especially for gender variant people, especially transmasculine people. Narcotica co-hosts Zachary Siegel and Troy Farah talk with Adryan Corcione about the climate of testosterone, why this hormone became so scrutinized (and how Joe Biden was part of that), and how syringe access programs have stepped in to help folks get the recognition and healthcare they deserve. Follow Adryan Corcione on Twitter and read their piece in Filter Magazine here. A few resources: https://www.transformationsproject.org/legislation – anti trans legislation tracker by state https://www.them.us/story/anti-lgbtq-bills-2022-explained-trans-sports-laws-youth-healthcare-mandated-reporter – recent roundup of anti-trans bills https://translifeline.org/ – trans lifeline, peer hot line for trans people experiencing crisis https://www.thetrevorproject.org/ – 24/7 LGBTQ+ hotline for young LGBTQ+ people https://reconcilearkansas.org/ – Arkansas specific group to support trans/gnc youth https://www.transtexas.org/ – transgender education education network of texss https://tranzmission.org/ – trans rights org in western NC Also, reach out to trans-specific groups local to you. 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 33: Party and Play—An Intro to Chemsex with David Stuart Episode 60: Perinatal Panic—Drugs, Pregnancy and Stigma with Ria Tsinas, Joelle Puccio and Erika Goyer Episode 24: How To Get Abortion Pills Feat. Lynn Paltrow and Francine Coeytaux Follow Narcotica on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and support us on Patreon. 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 / Paddington Bear Intro voice: Jenny Schaye The post Episode 70: How Testosterone Bans Criminalize the Body with Adryan Corcione appeared first on Narcotica.

Psychedelics are not exactly taking the same path that cannabis has taken to the mainstream, but there are some similarities. In the late ‘90s and early aughts, when medical cannabis was first starting to take hold in California, quasi-legal businesses popped up overnight, with a lot of questionable quality control and these shops were often raided by the DEA. Now cannabis is so blasé in places like California and more than 15 other states that have adult-use weed, that it’s almost hard to imagine a time when you couldn’t have a bag of cannabis gummies, plus a joint dipped in oil and rolled in kief, delivered directly to your door like they used to do with Netflix DVDs. Is that what we’re going to see with psilocybin, LSD, DMT and all the rest? Already people in some places like D.C., Colorado and Oregon are selling branded psychedelic edibles. In a lot of ways with psychedelics, we’re right where we were around 2010 with cannabis—a quasi-legal market that is ready to become legitimate, whether you like it or not. Narcotica co-host Troy Farah talks with Shelby Hartman and Madison Margolin, two of the great minds behind DoubleBlind Magazine, a publication dedicated to all things psychedelics and much more in the periphery of psychedelic culture. They discuss some of the pros and cons psychedelics becoming mainstream, how people can navigate this emerging space, the Decriminalize Nature movement, reciprocity for Indigenous people and much more. Visit https://doubleblindmag.com/ for more info. Follow Madison on Twitter: @margolinmadison Follow Shelby on Twitter: @shelbyannehart If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy: Episode 57: Autism, Acid and the Altered Brain with Aaron Orsini and Justine Lee Episode 49: Salvia: Psychedelic Oddity with Ivan Casselman Episode 59: Psychedelic Extinction—How Poaching Endangers Some Psychoactive Plants with Dr. Anya Ermakova Follow Narcotica on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and support us on Patreon. 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 / Troy Farah Music: Glass Boy / HoliznaCC0 Intro voice: Jenny Schaye Image: Open Clipart // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 69: The Promise and Peril of the Psychedelic Mainstream with Shelby Hartman and Madison Margolin appeared first on Narcotica.

On this episode, Narcotica co-hosts Zachary Siegel, Chris Moraff and Troy Farah interview each other, riffing on one question: Is the drug war getting better… Or worse? They cover everything from nitazenes, Dopesick, the Drug User’s Liberation Front, banning psychedelics like DiPT, benzo dope, West Virginia, buprenorphine, psychedelic exceptionalism, drug testing, crack pipes, supervised consumption sites in NYC and much, much, more. Their conclusion? You’ll have to listen to find out. OK, not really: Like many things, it’s a mix of both progress and backsliding. Narcotica’s founders discuss their current frustrations and what’s giving them optimism in America’s longest running war, a conflict directed at people. Maybe the end is in sight after all. Follow Chris Moraff on Twitter: @moraffreports Follow Zach Siegel on Twitter: @ZachWritesStuff Follow Troy Farah on Twitter: @filth_filler If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy: Episode 27: What’s the Most Dangerous Drug? Episode 58: How Racism Fuels The Drug War with Kassandra Frederique Episode 51: The Joy of Drug Use with Dr. Carl Hart Follow Narcotica on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and support us on Patreon. 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 / Troy Farah Music: Glass Boy / Holly Mangler Intro voice: Jenny Schaye Image: Noun Project // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 68: Is The Drug War Getting Better… Or Worse? with Zach Siegel, Chris Moraff and Troy Farah appeared first on Narcotica.

Harm reduction programs like syringe access, supervised consumption or even just handing out condoms on the street, can be some of the only access to healthcare some people encounter. Definitely not all, but some people who use drugs routinely shun going to the doctor—not because they don’t care about their health, but because our for-profit healthcare system treats almost everyone who uses an illicit substance like complete shit. And people who use drugs have been treated like pariahs long before the covid pandemic, but things got way worse once the virus came to town. Previously on Narcotica, co-host Chris Moraff did an episode all about how doctors need to work harder to rebuild the patient-trust relationship. And many medical professionals are doing that work, which makes such a huge difference. It’s hard to understate how valuable it can be to receive nonjudgmental medical care that doesn’t hinge on absolute abstinence. That episode, number 65, which we encourage you to listen to after this one, came from the perspective of two amazing doctors, Ashish Thakrar and Ben Cocchiario. However, on this episode, we want to talk to someone from the other side of the aisle to get a different viewpoint from someone with lived experience in this area. Why would you go to a healthcare provider for an infection or injury if you’re going to be lectured about your drug use, even if it has nothing to do with why you’re there? Or you might be forced to hand over your urine or have your possessions rifled through by a nurse. Even for people that don’t use illegal substances, our healthcare system is a nightmare to try and navigate. It only gets worse if you happen to self-medicate or enjoy chemicals that aren’t sanctioned by the FDA. Narcotica co-host Troy Farah speaks with Danielle Russell of Phoenix, Arizona, who is currently a justice and social inquiry PhD student at Arizona State University. She studies how the criminalization of substances used for personal pleasure has become a key issue and tool for social control, contributing to the ongoing legacy of racialized criminalization and mass incarceration in the U.S. Having personally experienced many of the harms that impact people who use illicit drugs, she is passionate about mutual aid and working to change the structures that impose harms on the bodies of drug users. Her research interests are oriented towards community-based participatory research. Follow Danielle on Twitter @DopefiendPhD and you can read the study she co-authored here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33461838/ If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy: Episode 65: Restoring Trust in Doctors Amidst The Overdose Crisis with Dr. Ben Cocchiaro and Dr. Ashish Thakrar Episode 48: Moms And Methadone with Elizabeth Brico Episode 56: Drug Use During Disaster with Aaron Ferguson Follow Narcotica on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and support us on Patreon. 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 / Troy Farah Music: Glass Boy / Holly Mangler Intro voice: Jenny Schaye Image: Noun Project // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 67: Methadone in the Time of Covid with Danielle Russell appeared first on Narcotica.

Booze is one of the most ancient and most prolific drugs in society, yet for some reason, it’s always placed in some separate category. Drugs and alcohol. Even at Narcotica, we’ve done over 65 episodes about drugs and not one of them has focused solely on ethanol. We just haven’t gotten to it yet, we’ve had so many other topics we’ve wanted to explore. The relationship people have with alcohol is so illustrative of Western society’s perspective on addiction and substance use, which is linked to the idea that addiction is a disease. But this framework, while a step above the idea that addiction is a moral failing, is still very destructive. Narcotica co-host Troy Farah gets into why this is the case in an interview with Dr. Stanton Peele, a brilliant psychologist and the author of Love and Addiction, co-authored by Archie Brodsky, a 1975 book that has really turned the idea of addiction as a disease on its head. Many giants in drug policy analysis, including Maia Szalavitz and Dr. Carl Hart, have cited Love and Addiction as influential on their way of thinking. Follow Stanton Peele on Twitter @speele5 and check out his new book, A Scientific Life on the Edge: My Lonely Quest to Change How We See Addiction. If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy: Episode 33: Party and Play—An Intro to Chemsex with David Stuart Episode 61: Undoing Drugs—Harm Reduction’s Early History with Maia Szalavitz Episode 51: The Joy of Drug Use with Dr. Carl Hart Follow Narcotica on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and support us on Patreon. 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 / Troy Farah Music: Glass Boy / Crowander Intro voice: Jenny Schaye Image: Noun Project // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 66: Overlooking Alcohol and The Nature of Addiction with Dr. Stanton Peele appeared first on Narcotica.

Over the past two decades, as fatal drug overdoses have risen precipitously, few professions have been hit harder by the crisis than the medical community. Physicians in particular have found themselves in the no-win position of being both blamed for the overdose crisis, which claimed more than 100,000 American lives in the past 12 months, while being tasked with containing it. According to one dominant narrative, it was cavalier doctors who sparked the crisis in the first place, by overprescribing habit forming narcotic painkillers to millions of Americans after being softened up at lavish dinners and then duped by nefarious pharmaceutical reps using fudged data. But that’s overly simplistic. For starters, it ignores the fact that the greatest spike in drug deaths came when doctors reigned in opioid prescribing after authorities started targeting so-called pill mills. This left tens of thousands of pain patients stranded and paved the way for the introduction of illicitly made fentanyl into the U.S. to fill unmet demands. Narcotica co-host Christopher Moraff delves into this topic, asking how the medical community can work to restore trust from their patients who are justifiably suspicious of the U.S. healthcare system, speaking with doctors Ashish Thakrar and Ben Cocchiario, who both work for the University of Pennsylvania medical system in Philadelphia, a focal point of the overdose crisis. They cover everything from methadone prescribing to overfunding the DEA, all of it underlining the importance of patient autonomy. Follow Ben Cocchiaro at UPenn Follow Ashish Thakrar on Twitter @especially_APT If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy: Episode 46: Behind The Pharmacists’ Counter with Jessica Moreno Episode 36: Moral Hazards and Naloxone, A Toxicologist’s Perspective Episode 30: Getting Wrecked with Dr. Kim Sue Follow Narcotica on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and support us on Patreon. 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: Stockvault // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 65: Restoring Trust in Doctors Amidst The Overdose Crisis with Dr. Ben Cocchiaro and Dr. Ashish Thakrar appeared first on Narcotica.