Narcotica Podcast

Psychedelic drugs are weird, but DMT has to be one of the weirdest. Best known as the principle psychoactive ingredient in ayahuasca, this drug, N,N-Dimethyltryptamine, occurs naturally in many plants and animals. Troy Farah interviews Andrew Gallimore, a computational neurobiologist, pharmacologist and DMT enthusiast, and author of the new book ‘Alien Information Theory.’ With a healthy dose of skepticism, they discuss hyperspace realms and building a machine that makes DMT trips last for hours on end. DMT is commonly called the quote ’Spirit molecule’ because while tons of psychedelics offer spiritual insight, DMT is in a category all its own. It can allegedly transport you to another dimension, where you will be greeted by vibrating, chattering ‘machine elves,’ as Terrence McKenna commonly called them. The experience is nothing short of life-changing, yet only lasts about 15 minutes. Are they aliens, spiritual beings or just hallucinations? We’ll let you decide.Follow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated!Find Andrew on Twitter or http://www.buildingalienworlds.comProducers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary SiegelCo-Producer: Aaron Ferguson Music: Glass Boy and Aaron FergusonImage Credit: Wikipedia / Composite by Troy Farah The post Episode 17: Using DMT To Contact Aliens with Andrew Gallimore appeared first on Narcotica.

Canada’s Downtown Eastside in Vancouver is known around the world as a city of pain and trauma. That’s not the whole story. Vancouver has produced trailblazing harm reduction activists and scholars who have changed the fabric of drug user health care. The Crackdown is a podcast that features some of the bravest activists who are pushing the envelope in drug policy. In this episode, Chris, Troy, and Zach interview Garth Mullins, host of The Crackdown, about what spawned the show, the differences between American and Canadian drug policy, and what journalism looks like when it is owned and produced by drug users. Check out The Crackdown. Follow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! Producer: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary SiegelMusic: Glass Boy and Aaron FergusonCo-Producer: Aaron Ferguson — https://soundcloud.com/knowmad1 The post Episode 16: The Crew Interviews the Crackdown’s Garth Mullins appeared first on Narcotica.

Mainstream media doesn’t really ‘get’ drugs, but there’s one place that has consistently gotten it right: Filter Magazine. Narcotica hosts Christopher Moraff, Zachary Siegel and Troy Farah talk with Filter’s co-founder and editor-in-chief Will Godfrey. This conversation covers a lot of ground on media literacy and compassionate reporting on drug use. Full disclosure: all three of us at Narcotica have worked with Godfrey in some way. But we completely support the work that Filter is doing, which is what we hope Narcotica accomplishes: responsible, scientific, and compassionate reporting on drugs. Learn more about Filter Magazine on their website and follow Will Godfrey on Twitter. Follow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! Producer: Christopher Moraff / Troy FarahImage credit: Eduardo VerdugoMusic: KieLoKaz, Glass Boy and Aaron FergusonCo-Producer: Aaron Ferguson — https://soundcloud.com/knowmad1 The post Episode 15: Accurate, Compassionate Drug Journalism with Filter Magazine appeared first on Narcotica.

Few would disagree with the notion that the United States government has dropped the ball on responding to the opioid crisis, particularly the threat posed by illicitly manufactured fentanyl in the heroin supply. That’s the basis of a new piece called “The Fentanyl Failure,” a Washington Post investigation into the Obama Administration. Only, there’s just one problem: the sources used by the Washington Post are angry drug warriors and zealous prosecutors who are mad that Obama didn’t let them lock up enough dealers. In this episode of Narcotica, co-host Zachary Siegel and special guest Jeff Deeney deconstruct the Washington Post’s exposé. They discuss the ways in which the supply-side narrative is for Serious People while harm reduction activism and interventions that actually save lives are still to the side in policy debates.  Follow Jeff Deeney. Follow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! Producers: Chris Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary SiegelEngineer: Aaron FergusonMusic: Glass Boy, Aaron Ferguson The post Episode 14: Harm Reduction Dies in Darkness—Jeff Deeney appeared first on Narcotica.

For the last installation of Narcotica’s Beyond Border series, Zachary Siegel interviews Dawn Paley, journalist and author of “Drug War Capitalism.” Paley’s scholarship and research situates paramilitarized drug violence in countries from Colombia to Honduras in historical, political, and economic context. On the show she discusses how the War on Drugs benefits big businesses across the hemisphere. Paley has reported about the War on Drugs from Mexico, South America, and Central America for The Nation Magazine, and recently finished her Ph.D. from the Autonomous University of Puebla in Mexico. Follow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! Producers: Chris Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary SiegelMusic: Glass Boy   The post Episode 13: Beyond Borders – “Drug War Capitalism” appeared first on Narcotica.

This week Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán was convicted by the U.S. government. Guzman rose to prominence in the Sinaloa Federation drug trafficking organization, where he allegedly became the most prolific and successful drug profiteer in history. From 2008 until his second capture in 2014, Guzman’s pharmaceutical manufacturing giant, if you will, was the primary supplier of illicit marijuana, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine to the United States. During Guzman’s rein, Mexico’s drug trafficking gangs experienced a tenuous but measurable peace, known among academics as Pax Sinaloa. But now that a head of the hydra has been severed, who knows what will emerge. On this episode, Narcotica’s Christopher Moraff spoke with VICE News editor Keegan Hamilton, who has been closely tracking this trial since it began. Follow Keegan Hamilton on Twitter. Follow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! Producer: Christopher Moraff / Troy FarahImage credit: Eduardo VerdugoMusic: Scanglobe, Glass Boy, and Fourmi Thanks to the VICE offices for letting us record in their studio. The post Episode 12: Beyond Borders — “El Chapo” and the Mexican Fentanyl Pipeline with Keegan Hamilton appeared first on Narcotica.

America practically invented prohibition, or at least popularized it to the point where nearly every country models itself after U.S. drug policy. The results have been nothing short of disastrous. Troy Farah talks with foreign policy expert Sanho Tree about how the ‘Land of the Free’ have exported draconian drug laws, enslaving the rest of the planet. This discussion covers poppy fields in Afghanistan, Central American migrants fleeing gangs, the Bolivian model for cocaine regulation, death squads in the Philippines and how Trump’s wall is just more bad drug policy. Follow Sanho Tree on Twitter. Follow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! Producer: Troy FarahImage credit: Alastair Rae, Flickr / Edit by Troy FarahMusic: Inaequalis and Glass Boy The post Episode 11: Beyond Borders — How the U.S. Exports Dangerous Drug Policy with Sanho Tree appeared first on Narcotica.

For the last several years there’s been a lot of controversy surrounding a drug called kratom, a plant from Southeast Asia that is used by millions of Americans to relieve pain and anxiety. The federal government has said this drug has high potential for abuse and has been quietly waging a war against kratom, leaving many people to wonder when, not if, it will be banned. That day seems to be today: Tuesday, November 27 2018. A new announcement by the Food and Drug Administration today says “Kratom is not legally marketed in the U.S. as a drug or dietary supplement.” This is a distinction that the FDA has made before, but never so blatantly. This puts kratom in a precarious position and invites police departments across the country to now raid anyone who sells it. We spoke to Drew Turner, a longtime kratom advocate from Washington, D.C., about the changes this will make. For more info on what kratom is, how dangerous it is (or isn’t) and how it affects people, check out this primer here. Follow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! Producer: Troy Farah Image credit: Wikimedia Commons / Edit by Troy Farah Music: Krackatoa and Glass Boy EDIT: In the podcast, it’s said that this legal distinction has not been made before. The statement was found at least once before buried deep in a press release and the FDA has never clarified this before. The FDA may say that’s always been their stance, but if so, then they haven’t been enforcing it, and this still could signal big changes to come. We regret the error. The post Episode 10: Did The FDA Just Say Kratom Is Illegal? appeared first on Narcotica.

For more than a century, Americans have had a love-hate relationship with cocaine. Once viewed as a cure-all tonic for everything from hemorrhoids to morphine addiction, the drug has inspired infamous rock songs and brought people to their knees. In the third and final segment of Narcotica’s ‘Speed Up, Slow Down’ series on stimulants, reporter Christopher Moraff examines the strange and perplexing history of cocaine and it’s latest demonization—fentanyl adulteration. He speaks with toxicologist Kevin Shanks, Dennis Cauchon of Harm Reduction Ohio and fentanyl test strip guru Tino Fuentes. Follow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! Photo credit: Christopher Moraff, edit by Troy Farah. The post Episode 9: Speed Up, Slow Down Pt. 3 — The Cocaine Fentanyl Blues appeared first on Narcotica.

With the midterms just days away, Zach, Chris and Troy explore America’s newest marginalized political constituency—millions of people with chronic pain or illness that have been ground under the wheel of American opioid policy. We speak with Lauren DeLuca, President of Chronic Illness Advocacy & Awareness Group about how we got here and how the sickest Americans can we come one of the strongest political forces in coming years. Listen HERE Follow Narcotica on Facebook, Twitter and support us on Patreon. Your support is appreciated! Photo credit: K-State Research and Extension, edit by Troy Farah. The post Episode 8: Collateral Damage—Patients Fight Back appeared first on Narcotica.