The Needle and the Narrative

Frances first got involved with SSDP in 2011, when she co-founded the Northwestern University chapter as a freshman. Although she had known that the War on Drugs was irrational and ineffective before attending college, it wasn’t until she attended her first Midwest Regional Conference at Roosevelt University that she learned that drug policies were also unjust and inhumane. Since then, harm reduct...

Rhana Hashemi author of "The Fallacies of a Drug-Free American Dream." References: http://thedrugclassroom.com http://ssdp.org/ Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-needle-and-the-narrative--1518412/support .

Andrew G. Ahearn is the founder of the Pills That Kill Foundation. Resources: http://pillsthatkill.org http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20100912/NEWS/100909840 Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-needle-and-the-narrative--1518412/support .

Adam Lowery is a mental health counselor, trainer, speaker, podcaster, activist and coach whose passion is helping others change and optimize their lives. Through an abusive childhood, he focused on his dream to play college football. But at age twenty-two, injury ended his NFL dreams. Disheartened and angry, he chose a life of addiction and crime. He survived the world of drug dealing and quickly...

America continues to try and address the massive overdose epidemic occurring nationally by waging war against her own citizens, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) attempts to provide helpful guidelines through labeling and education, and it's a thrilling time to be a drug treatment provider with maintenance therapies, replacement therapies, and conventional abstinence therapies a...

Psychedelic therapy refers to the use of psychedelic (“mind manifesting”) drugs in therapeutic practice. Substances of interest like 3 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) are demonstrating the ability to enhance and augment the therapeutic relationship, a primary factor in emotional reprocessing and healing, allowing for a considerable amount of patient progress to occur in a relatively short a...

A common classification often used with medicinal and recreational drugs is “synthetic” versus “natural.” Despite the apparent face validity of “natural” drugs being less harmful, they are no less dangerous, and in some cases are more so, than their synthetic cousins. The individual using the substance, their set, setting, neurochemistry, along with the drug’s intrinsic properties must always be t...

The libertarian philosophy upholds “liberty” as its principal objective. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and personal freedoms based on a foundation of an individual choosing what is best for itself. They are skeptical of authority and governmental intrusion into the rights of individuals. Libertarians argue that the invasiveness of the state and the abuse by law enforcement that is likely...

Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) is an international grassroots network of college students who are concerned about the impact drug abuse has on our communities, but who also know that the War on Drugs is failing our generation and our society. At last count, SSDP had over 4000 members on 300 campuses across 13 different countries. Glen sits down with outgoing Northwestern University SSDP...

Alcohol (ethanol) as a drug of intentional use has existed in cultures across the world dating back to as early as 10,000 BC where Stone Age jugs were used to intentionally ferment fruit for the purpose of human consumption. Its psychoactive properties were taken advantage of in medicine as shown in the Hebrew Bible which recommends giving alcoholic drinks to those who are infirmed to decrease the...

Seth Fitzgerald from The Drug Classroom and addiction therapist Glen Marshall explore synthetic cannabinoids which were made popular in the media by their commercial name Spice, K2, along with many others. This class of substance appears to have a moderate potential for abuse as well as a high potential for undesirable and dangerous effects due to the widely varying mixture used to create the fina...

Modafinil was originally developed in France and in 1998, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of narcolepsy. It is a wakefulness-promoting agent (or eugeroic) used in the treatment narcolepsy, shift work sleep disorder, and excessive daytime sleepiness associated with sleep apnea. It has experienced widespread off-label use as a cognition-enhancing agent and has...

Henry is a psychonaut. A psychonaut or “sailor of the soul” in literal greek, is a person who explores activities by which altered states of consciousness are induced and utilized for spiritual purposes or exploration of the human condition. These alternative states of consciousness can be achieved through a variety of means including meditation, rituals, or drugs. Henry has chosen to experience t...

N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is the most fascinating psychedelic molecule we have discussed on The Addictive Podcast. It seems to be found in all living things, can produce teleportation-like experiences for the user, and is made in our own brains. DMT has a similar molecular structure to other psychoactive chemicals including, serotonin, melatonin, and psilocybin. Known to some researchers as “th...

Ibogaine, the primary psychoactive ingredient in the Tabernanthe iboga plant, has increasingly been used as a detoxification treatment from opiates since the 1980s. Today, ibogaine is administered under compassionate access or experimental legal frameworks in hospitals, medical centers, retreats, and private therapeutic settings around the world. Jonathan Dickinson is the Executive Director of the...

Not all illicit drugs are used for pleasurable recreational purposes. Some substances hold great promise in helping to heal conditions like addiction, dysphoria, and other mental and physical health ailments. Ayahuasca is one such substance. This brew made from a combination of leaves and vines from specific plants found in South America is offered at a number of shamanic retreat centers for those...

At recommended doses dextromethorphan, a common ingredient in most cough medicines like Sucrets®, Robitussin®, and NyQuil®, produces little or no central nervous system effect. At recreational doses, positive effects may include acute euphoria, elevated mood, dissociation of mind from body, creative dream-like experiences, and increased perceptual awareness. Other effects include disorientation, c...

Today's episode explores the life of “Andrew”, a highly functional student, substance enthusiast, and artist whose life became confounded by the prescription psycho-stimulant Adderall. Learn about his journey and the techniques he incorporated to reduce the harms caused by daily amphetamine use, and the self-reflection mechanisms that helped him move beyond the condition of addiction. Resources: h...

The 2015 International Drug Policy Reform Conference was a biennial event that brought together people from around the world who believe that the war on drugs is doing more harm than good. This conference was the largest gathering of reformers ever and included over 1,500 attendees representing 72 different countries. Therapist Glen Marshall and drug education advocate Seth Fitzgerald both attende...

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-needle-and-the-narrative--1518412/support .

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-needle-and-the-narrative--1518412/support .

I sit down with mental health advocate Adam Lowery who inspired me to start The Addictive Podcast through his courage to confront the treatment establishment publicly, and ongoing efforts to make change in the lives of those who need it most. Adam has been featured on The Joe Rogan Experience and is a thought leader on science based approaches to addiction care and health. Listen in to our discuss...

1) “Krokodil” eats your flesh. 2) There is a prescription opiate epidemic. 3) Synthetic cannabinoids are like cannabis. 4) Marijuana is not addictive and has no physical withdrawal. 5) Heroin is physically harmful and the withdrawal is deadly. 6) “Molly” is safe pure MDMA. 7) “Bath Salts” cause cannibalism and can make you a zombie. 8) Alcohol and Nicotine are safe because they are legal. 9) Crack...

"Everything I believed about drug prohibition was wrong. My violent actions enforcing those laws harmed others and injured my own moral fiber." That tweet sits pinned to the top of former South Carolina police officer turned Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) Member, Raeford Davis. In this compelling podcast, Raeford takes us on his journey as a boy growing up in a conservative South Carol...

Etizolam which is marketed under the brand names Etilaam, Etizola, Sedekopan, Etizest, Pasaden, and Depas has quickly becoming a drug commonly used in recreational circles. This gray market benzodiazepine analog has effects similar to Valium and Xanax but with a greater sense of euphoria and strong soporific effects. An anti-anxiolytic which is prescribed in Japan, India, and Italy, Etizolam shoul...