Narcotica Podcast

There’s a “twindemic” raging across the state of West Virginia: Covid-19 has collided with an outbreak of HIV and hepatitis C. If that’s not bad enough, West Virginia has the highest overdose death rate in the nation. The CDC recently called the HIV outbreak in Kanawha County, West Virginia the “most concerning” in the country. Make no mistake, this outbreak is preventable, and is largely driven by the failure of local governments to provide syringe service programs to people who use drugs. Even worse, West Virginia lawmakers are actively trying to pass legislation to further restrict harm reduction programs across the state. Covering this disaster of health and reactionary politics is Lauren Peace, a local investigative reporter at the nonprofit news outlet Mountain State Spotlight. Lauren has been providing vital on the ground coverage of embattled harm reduction programs—programs like Solutions Oriented Addiction Response (SOAR) that are working against a toxic backlash to prevent more HIV cases from spreading and save lives.This episode is a one-on-one conversation with co-host Zachary Siegel and Lauren, who discusses what it’s like on the ground in West Virginia and the endless battle to put out science-based information in the face of stigma and misguided narratives about harm reduction. Plus, a bit of news at the top of the show about Biden’s pick for ONDCP director (read Zach’s piece in Filter) and Senate Bill 334, a piece of harmful legislation moving through West Virginia’s legislature.You can follow Lauren on Twitter: @LaurenMPeace and read her work at Mountain State Spotlight. Follow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us!If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy:Episode 37: Covering Culture and Drugs with Substance with Kate KnibbsEpisode 19: Debunking Bupe Diversion Myths with Molly DoernbergEpisode 36: Moral Hazards and Naloxone, A Toxicologist’s Perspective with Ryan Marino Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary SiegelCo-producer: Garrett FarahMusic: Glass Boy / LasersIntro voice: Jenny SchayeImage: Bill Dickinson via Flickr // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 54: West Virginia, America’s Worst Overdose and HIV Hotspot with Lauren Peace appeared first on Narcotica.

It’s kinda weird hearing people say “weed is mainstream” now, when merely possessing the plant stuff can still earn you serious consequences in many parts of the world. But the growing popularity of cannabis is unmistakable. Marijuana is now a global, multi-billion dollar industry—well, to be fair, it always was, only now it’s all legitimate and overtaxed and commercialized instead of enriching drug cartels. Regardless, cannabis is more popular than ever, with a rapidly growing fandom among older generations. Even Martha Stewart is into CBD now. But while it’s great to see so many people starting to dig the awesome benefits cannabis sativa offers, it’s important to contextualize the culture and history that got us here. On Narcotica, we’ve done more than 50 episodes about all kinds of drugs: opioids, meth, cocaine, psilocybin magic mushrooms, ketamine, even sorta obscure stuff like antibiotics and salvia. But we’ve never done an episode entirely devoted to cannabis! How weird is that? One of the world’s most popular drugs, one I use every day and we just… haven’t gotten to it yet. So we thought we’d start things off with a bang and bring in one of weed’s biggest fans, none other than comedian, musician and world famous stoner Tommy Chong, of Cheech and Chong fame. We discuss everything from prison life to getting high in old age to how ‘Up In Smoke’ became a blockbuster hit to the emerging cannabis industry.You can follow Tommy on Twitter @tommychong If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy:Episode 2: Anthony Bourdain, Suicide and the Myth of Cross AddictionEpisode 49: Salvia: Psychedelic Oddity (Plus, Canada’s Emerging Psilocybin Scene)Episode 25: Banning Kratom Will Escalate the Opioid Overdose Crisis with Walter ProzialeckFollow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary SiegelCo-producer: Garrett FarahMusic: Glass Boy / Jesse SpillaneIntro voice: Jenny SchayeImage: Wikipedia / FreeSVG // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 53: A Life of Getting Lit with Tommy Chong appeared first on Narcotica.

Maybe it seems like an obvious question, but why is certain drug use illegal in the first place? Don’t you, as a human being, have some bodily autonomy and doesn’t that extend to alterations in the mind as well? What about the fundamental right to change your mind? On this episode of Narcotica, co-hosts Troy Farah, Chris Moraff and Zachary Siegel talk with Casey William Hardison about cognitive liberty, the freedom of thought, and how that relates to prohibiting some drugs but not others. Hardison is a giant in the underground chemistry scene, who has rubbed shoulders with many legends in obscure chemistry: Sasha Shulgin and Darrell Lemaire, for example, and he was featured on Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia, in the episode ‘The Lazy Lizard School of Hedonism.’ In the past, Casey operated several infamous drug labs producing things like MDMA, LSD and 2C-B. That’s all behind him, but unrelated to that, Casey has had a bit of legal trouble lately, which we’ll discuss more, but his central argument in court is quite unique. This episode is being produced in collaboration with Filter Magazine. Troy wrote an article that goes into some more detail about Casey’s life and the implications for this court case. You can read the article at filtermag.org You can follow Casey on Twitter @asthouwilt If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy:Episode 49: Salvia: Psychedelic Oddity (Plus, Canada’s Emerging Psilocybin Scene)Episode 15: Accurate, Compassionate Drug Journalism with Filter MagazineEpisode 17: Using DMT To Contact AliensFollow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary SiegelCo-producer: Garrett FarahMusic: Glass Boy / Checkie BrownIntro voice: Jenny SchayeImage: Pixabay // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 52: The Fundamental Human Right to Get High with Casey William Hardison appeared first on Narcotica.

Dr. Carl Hart has long been known as America’s preeminent drug scientist. If you listen to our show regularly, you’ve probably heard of him. He appeared briefly way back on Episode 6, talking about crack-cocaine. For the uninitiated, Dr. Hart is a neuroscientist at Columbia University, and he’s published well over 100 peer-reviewed, scientific papers, which produces vital knowledge and understanding of how drugs work not only in the brain, but how they work in people’s lives and society at-large. But lately, Dr. Hart has taken his work outside the lab with his new book, “Drug Use for Grown Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear.” On this episode, Narcotica co-hosts Zachary Siegel, Chris Moraff and Troy Farah discuss with Dr. Hart everything from using cannabis while pregnant to housing as harm reduction to taking MDMA as a way to romantically connect with your partner. We debunk a lot of myths, but especially the idea that drug use is only a form of self-medication. Sometimes—a lot of the time—people just use drugs to feel good. Acknowledging the joy of drug use is essential to dismantling the war on people who use them.You can follow Dr. Hart on Twitter @drcarlhart and learn more at drcarlhart.com If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy:Episode 47: Can Harm Reduction and Cops Coexist?Episode 44: Reimagining Public Health and Racial JusticeEpisode 27: What’s the Most Dangerous Drug?Follow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary SiegelCo-producer: Garrett FarahMusic: Glass Boy / Revolution VoidIntro voice: Jenny SchayeImage: Hartwig HKD Flickr // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 51: The Joy of Drug Use with Dr. Carl Hart appeared first on Narcotica.

On this episode, we discuss how Mexico became a flashpoint of the war on drugs, broader trends in American foreign policy and drug policy, as well as the evolution of synthetic drugs as the main category of illicit narcotics. Our guest is Scott Stewart, a security analyst who for years penned one of the best annual assessments of Mexico’s evolving cartels for Stratfor and has since transitioned to Torchstone Global, a private security consulting firm.  Scott has worked in the trenches of intelligence and security for 35 years and began his career in army reserve and National Guard intelligence before spending 10 years as a special agent with the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service.  During the height of the drug war’s surge under Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, Scott was assigned to protect a Colombian judge who had signed an arrest warrant for Pablo Escobar. In 1993 he traveled to Bogota to help the Colombian government investigate a car bombing at a school supply market. You can follow Scott on Twitter @stick631 and learn more at torchstoneglobal.com If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy:Episode 11: Beyond Borders — How the U.S. Exports Dangerous Drug PolicyEpisode 31: Supervised Consumption: Narcotica Breaks Down Safehouse Ruling with Av GutmanEpisode 34: “Inside the Bloody War on Drugs”Follow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary SiegelCo-producer: Garrett FarahMusic: Glass Boy / ChandiliersIntro voice: Jenny SchayeImage: Pixabay // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 50: Sicarios and Supply Side Economics with Scott Stewart appeared first on Narcotica.

Most people know salvia as the weird psychedelic drug at head shops that you try once, have a bizarre, uncomfortable experience and never touch it again. But there’s so much more to salvia divinorum, psychedelics and plant medicine in general. Narcotica co-host Troy Farah speaks with Dr. Ivan Casselman, from Vancouver, B.C., Canada, who has a Ph.D. in Plant Science, studying their analytical chemistry and genetics and works as the Chief Psychedelics Officer for Havn Life Sciences. We discuss all things salvia divinorum, including ethnobotany and indigenous use of this plant, its strange effects compared to ‘classic’ psychedelics like LSD, and how to safely use and understand this drug. Plus, we get into Canada’s evolving psychedelic scene and what the future might hold for entheogens in the Great White North.Follow Dr. Ivan Casselman on Twitter @drivancasselman If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy:Episode 41: What Does It All Ketamine?Episode 17: Using DMT To Contact AliensEpisode 35: Holding Space — The Values of Trip SittingFollow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary SiegelCo-producer: Garrett FarahMusic: Glass Boy / Chris ZabriskieImage: Wikimedia Commons // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 49: Salvia: Psychedelic Oddity with Ivan Casselman (Plus, Canada’s Emerging Psilocybin Scene) appeared first on Narcotica.

Is there any class of people who receive more stigma, who get more shit and abuse for using drugs, than mothers? Probably not! For whatever reason, society really looks down upon mothers who use drugs. And too often, Child Protective Services use evidence of drug use, even prescribed drugs like methadone or buprenorphine, as a pretense for seizing children from parents, even when there are no signs of abuse or neglect. At Narcotica, we believe in safe drug use no matter who it is. On this episode, Troy, Zach and Chris talk about how stigma against drug use is contributing to an overloaded foster care system, how so-called ‘fetal assault laws’ are used to control women and pregnant people, and the various ways the war on drugs can be used to dehumanize parents. Our guest is Elizabeth Brico, a freelance journalist and author from the Pacific Northwest. Her work has appeared in Politico, Columbia Journalism Review, VICE, Undark and many others. She is also the mother of two little girls. Follow Elizabeth Brico on Twitter @elizabethbricoYou can read some of Elizabeth’s work here: https://filtermag.org/motherhood-legally-terminated/ Sign Elizabeth’s petition to get her kids back: https://www.change.org/p/florida-department-of-children-and-families-reunite-the-brico-girls-ages-5-and-6-with-their-mama If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy:Episode 24: How To Get Abortion PillsEpisode 30: Getting Wrecked with Dr. Kim SueEpisode 6: Speed Up, Slow Down Pt. 2 — Myth Evolution: From Crack Kids to Addicted Babies Follow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary SiegelCo-producer: Garrett FarahMusic: Glass Boy / A.A. AaltoImage: Wacky Stuff // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 48: Moms And Methadone with Elizabeth Brico appeared first on Narcotica.

Something that never gets said enough is that the drug war is racist. This is not an opinion any more than it is an opinion that the American Civil War was fought over slavery. Both were crafted by racists to serve racist agendas of controlling people based on their skin color. It is why it is more urgent than ever that we dismantle this system of oppression, the so-called war on drugs, which would be perhaps better described as simply a war on people. In many ways, prohibition is far more harmful to people than the drugs that are banned. Harm reduction is a philosophy and a practice that aims to fill in the gaps—if we can’t have a safe, regulated drug supply for heroin or meth like we do with alcohol or tobacco, sometimes even cannabis, then maybe we can make drug use more safe in other ways. Here’s some sterile syringes, here’s some naloxone, here’s a phone number you can call if you want to get counseling, etc…  Narcotica hosts Zachary Siegel and Troy Farah talk with Haley Coles from Sonoran Prevention Works, a grassroots harm reduction non-profit in Phoenix, Arizona that works against some of the structural issues surrounding communities impacted by drug use in Arizona. The infrastructure of harm reduction in the Grand Canyon State is scarce compared to a lot of states—syringe access is still illegal, for example—so there’s a lot of room for growth. We discuss racial justice in the field of harm reduction, where the movement has fallen short, and how things can get better. Follow Sonoran Prevention Works on Twitter @spw_azYou can read SPW’s BLM statement here: https://mailchi.mp/spwaz/black-lives-matter If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy:Episode 44: Reimagining Public Health and Racial JusticeEpisode 42: Supervised Consumption is an Essential ServiceHot Spots 1 – 3 Arizona, Iowa and Nova Scotia Follow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary Siegel Co-producer: Garrett Farah Music: Glass Boy Image: PXhere // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 47: Can Harm Reduction and Cops Coexist? appeared first on Narcotica.

You ever wonder what the hell pharmacists even do? To laypeople, pharmacists are the gatekeepers standing between us and our drugs. But they can be, and arguably, should be, much more than that. Even though just about everyone has experience with pharmacists, some good, some really bad, the profession is still a bit of a mystery. What’s going on behind the counter? To answer this and more, Narcotica hosts Zachary Siegel, Christopher Moraff and Troy Farah talk with Jessica Moreno, a psychiatric clinical pharmacist based in Detroit, Michigan. We cover topics like why naloxone and birth control should be over-the-counter, how some pharmacists can be prejudiced against people who use drugs, and the role pharmacists play in society as the gatekeepers to prescription drugs. Follow Jessica on Twitter @JesslynnmorenoIf you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy: Episode 24: How To Get Abortion PillsEpisode 36: Moral Hazards and Naloxone, A Toxicologist’s PerspectiveEpisode 30: Getting Wrecked with Dr. Kim Sue Follow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary SiegelCo-producer: Garrett FarahMusic: Glass BoyImage: Thomas Hawk, Flickr // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 46: Behind The Pharmacists’ Counter with Jessica Moreno appeared first on Narcotica.

When Morgan Godvin was 24, she sold her best friend Justin a gram of heroin. This wasn’t out of the ordinary. Both of them often used together and hooking each other up was essentially seen as a favor, to keep one another from experiencing withdrawal sickness. But this one time proved to be fatal. Justin would later be found dead from an overdose, and Morgan was on the hook for supplying it, getting caught up in the wave of drug-induced homicide cases where prosecutors go after users, who are often friends and loved ones of the victim. Morgan was convicted of “drug delivery resulting in death” by the federal government and spent 5 years incarcerated at the Dublin Federal Prison outside of Oakland for Justin’s death. Since she’s been released, Morgan has used her experience and voice to push back against America’s ultra-punitive response to everyday social problems like addiction, including raising awareness about drug-induced homicide prosecutions. In this episode, Narcotics co-hosts Zachary Siegel and Troy Farah talk with Morgan about everything from syringe access in Tijuana to solitary confinement to being queer and using drugs in prison. But overall, this conversation centers on drug-induced homicides and the way these draconian laws are inflicted on people. Follow Morgan on Twitter @MorganGodvin You can read Morgan’s piece “Money Changed Everything For Me In Prison” in The Marshall Project.Learn more about drug-induced homicide laws at the Health In Justice Lab’s portal. Follow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary SiegelCo-producer: Garrett FarahMusic: Glass BoyImage: Pixabay // edit: Troy Farah The post Episode 45: Overdose Is Tragic, Not Murder with Morgan Godvin appeared first on Narcotica.