Drugs and Stuff: A Podcast from the Drug Policy Alliance

Feb 10 2022 50 ep. 29 mins 795
Drugs and Stuff: A Podcast from the Drug Policy Alliance artwork

Welcome to Drugs & Stuff. We're a podcast about drugs, harm reduction, mass criminalization, the drug war, and other stuff from the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) – the nation's leading organization working to end the war on drugs. We bring in a wide variety of experts – from scientists to activists, writers to teachers – to hear about how drugs and drug policy play a role in their work and lives. We also offer a peek behind the scenes as we feature DPA staff talking about the work they do.

  Society & Culture  Education
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Episode 48: Classwide Scheduling of Fentanyl-Related Substances Won’t Save Lives - It Will Overcriminalize Them

Feb 10 2022 36 mins  
Under the Controlled Substances Act, drugs are classified into legal, regulatory categories by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This is known as “drug scheduling”, and it’s generally guided by a drug’s potential for abuse, and its medical value – and then the idea of classwide scheduling came along. In 2018, in a misaligned approach to addressing the overdose crisis,

Episode 47: Maia Szalavitz Considers Harm Reduction’s Past and Future

Sep 20 2021 35 mins  
The harm reduction movement began as a reaction against drug war policies that criminalize, punish, and hurt people – and a need to save lives. As a public health approach that aims to reduce the harms related to drug use and minimize risk, it offers a fresh and compassionate alternative to the war on drugs. In her new book, New York Times bestselling author Maia Szalavitz chron

Episode 46: The Brotherhood Sister Sol’s Dr. Marsha Jean-Charles on the Drug War and the Education System

Jul 21 2021 32 mins  
The drug war has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives—and it’s time to uproot it. The Drug Policy Alliance has been working closely with other advocacy organizations to create Uprooting the Drug War, a project that shines a spotlight on the insidious ways the drug war has spread into the systems of child welfare, public benefits, employment, immigration, housing, and educa

Episode 45: “Puff or Pass”: The Iconic, Ironic D.A.R.E. Shirt

Jul 14 2021 15 mins  
In this episode of “Puff or Pass”, our series on the portrayal of drugs and drug users in popular culture, DPA’s former digital communications interns Dilara Balkan and Marisa Hetzler take us on a journey through fashion, irony, and drug (mis)education with an exploration of the D.A.R.E. shirt. How did the infamous D.A.R.E. program transition from failed Copaganda “drug edu

Episode 44: Screenwriter Priscila García-Jacquier on Challenging the Narcos Narrative

Jun 30 2021 26 mins  
Have you ever noticed just how many series, films and documentaries focus on the drug trade? The “narcos” narrative is so popular, and so ingrained, that it’s universally known. It's also really problematic, and on this episode, we'll do some digging into why. Screenwriter and director Priscila García-Jacquier was born and raised in Colombia, whose economy, people, and reput

Episode 43: The Ordinary People Society’s Pastor Kenneth Glasgow on the Drug War and the Public Benefits System

May 19 2021 42 mins  
The drug war has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives—and it’s time to uproot it. The Drug Policy Alliance has been working closely with other advocacy organizations to create Uprooting the Drug War, a project that shines a spotlight on the insidious ways the drug war has spread into the systems of child welfare, public benefits, employment, immigration, housing, and educa

Episode 42: Movement for Family Power’s Lisa Sangoi on the Drug War and the Family Regulation System

Apr 14 2021 37 mins  
The drug war has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives—and it’s time to uproot it. The Drug Policy Alliance has been working closely with other advocacy organizations to create Uprooting the Drug War, a project that shines a spotlight on the insidious ways the drug war has spread into the systems of child welfare or family regulation, public benefits, employment, immigratio

Episode 41: Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty Talks All Drug Decriminalization and Alternatives to Policing

Mar 10 2021 42 mins  
As we approach the one-year anniversary of Breonna Taylor's killing, the connection between deeply problematic policing and the criminalization of drugs has never been more apparent. On this episode, we take a deep dive into the changes that some communities are already making. Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty sat down with DPA Senior Staff Attorney Grey Gardner to discus

Episode 40: Christine Minhee on the Promises and Perils of Opioid Litigation

Oct 21 2020 42 mins  
Today, news broke that the Department of Justice has reached an $8 billion-plus settlement with Purdue Pharma for its role in the opioid crisis. This money should be used to combat the public health emergency of overdose deaths, but another public health emergency -- the COVID-19 pandemic -- has taken hold of media coverage and government spending. As overdose deaths continue to in

Episode 39: After Her Son Overdosed and Died, Jessie Dunleavy Realized it Was Preventable

Sep 02 2020 42 mins  
Jessie Dunleavy always knew her son Paul was unique. He struggled throughout his life -- to learn, to be accepted -- and she tried however she could to help him along the way. But as he got older, and began to struggle with drug use, system after system began to shut them out. Where he needed hope, he got silence; where he needed support, he got punishment. In April 2017, Paul over