Addiction

Episode 96: The Schism of Addiction and Vice with Elizabeth Roberts

July 7, 2026 Narcotica Addiction, Episodes, Harm Reduction 1:06:39 0 Comments

Not everyone views addiction in chiefly negative terms, which isn’t all too surprising to anyone with a little world experience, but it sometimes still feels shocking because of how dominant the mainstream narrative that dependency (on certain drugs) is automatically a moral failing or represents a physical or mental shortcoming. It doesn’t have to be framed this way — and arguably, the overwhelming negative focus is part of the problem. But where do we start when we explore the division between addiction and vice?

Narcotica co-hosts Aaron Ferguson and Troy Farah speak with Elizabeth Roberts, a professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan, who since 2013, she has participated in collaborative environmental health research in Mexico City, which has been a catalyst for her questioning a lot of dogma about addiction in different societies. In many places, Roberts finds in her latest book, “In Praise of Addiction,” the real negative harms don’t come from drugs but isolation and harmful systems like mass incarceration that divide communities. By reframing the question, we can start building a society that doesn’t shame or stigmatize people for arbitrary behaviors.

Roberts’ latest book “In Praise of Addiction: Or How We Can Learn To Love Dependency in a Damaged World,” is available from Princeton University Press.

Narcotica is still here! More updates soon. We lost our Facebook/Instagram account (banned for being too cool.) Follow Narcotica on Twitter, YouTube, BlueSky and support us on Patreon. We just opened a shop where you can order Narcotica merch: narcocast.myshopify.com and browse suggested books in Narcotica’s reading library. Help keep this podcast ad-free! Your support is appreciated!

If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy:
Episode 81: Harm Reduction Against the Prison-Industrial Complex
Episode 66: Overlooking Alcohol and The Nature of Addiction with Dr. Stanton Peele
Episode 83: The Parents Who Oppose The War on Drugs with Tamara Olt and Gretchen Bergman

We’re on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Rate us! And thanks for your support!
Producers: Troy Farah, Aaron Ferguson
Music: Glass Boy / Nomad1 / Algorithms by Chad Crouch
Intro voice: Jenny Schaye
Image: StockSnap / Pixabay

Episode 93: Veterans’ Harm Reduction Battle with Beth Dinges

September 27, 2025 Narcotica Addiction, Episodes, Harm Reduction 0:50:26 0 Comments

Despite all the nationalism in our country, veterans are too often seen as expendable. Drug use in the military is as common as any other aspect of society, obviously, but increased stigma and consequences pushes most to the shadows. Harm reduction for veterans is especially vital and luckily, the Department of Veterans Affairs is starting to finally recognize this, but there’s a lot of work to be done.

On this episode, Narcotica hosts Aaron Ferguson and Troy Farah speak with Beth Dinges, a clinical pharmacist who’s been caring for Veterans for over 20 years. She’s the Harm Reduction Coordinator at the VA and helped launch VA’s first syringe program in 2017. She works directly with Veterans, prescribing medications for SUD and to treat Hepatitis and prevent HIV.

Resources:
• Expanding Harm Reduction Services and Implementation of Syringe Services Programs within Veterans Health Administration
• Harm Reduction Veteran Engagement Board

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 44: Reimagining Public Health and Racial Justice with Dr. Ricky Bluthenthal
Episode 81: Harm Reduction Against the Prison-Industrial Complex

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: Troy Farah, Aaron Ferguson
Music: Glass Boy / Nomad1
Intro voice: Jenny Schaye

Episode 83: The Parents Who Oppose The War on Drugs with Tamara Olt and Gretchen Bergman

June 14, 2023 Narcotica Addiction, Episodes, Overdose Crisis 1:19:30 0 Comments

The War on (People who Use) Drugs has claimed over a million victims in the last two decades, every fatal overdose representing deep policy failures that attempt in vain to control normal human behavior: self-medicating and inducing euphoria.

None of this wonky policy bullshit matters much when you’re the parent of a child who dies from an overdose.

Few things in life are as devastating as losing your kid. It stirs up some of the deepest, darkest emotions humans are capable of and when drugs are involved, that typically turns into a thirst for retribution. That can mean demanding stricter penalties for drug use, like so-called drug homicide laws, or calls for increased police surveillance. But we have over a century of data proving that prohibition doesn’t work. More cops, more draconian drug laws — it all just backfires. We have more police, more prisons and yet more drug overdose deaths than ever before. That’s why it’s such a breath of fresh air when parents whose children struggle with drug use or addiction advocate for harm reduction and sensible drug policy.

Narcotica co-host Troy Farah spoke with Gretchen Burns Bergman, whose two grown sons who are in long-term recovery from heroin addiction, and Tamara Olt, M.D., who lost her 16-year-old son Joshua to an accidental heroin overdose in 2012. Both strongly advocate for a more rational approach to how we treat substance use in the U.S. They discuss everything from safe supply, to the myths of “tough love” and “enabling” to buprenorphine access to the ridiculous (but trending) idea that fentanyl is a weapon of mass destruction.

This interview, which was conducted last November, was also featured in Salon.

Read Tamara’s essay in Elle here: https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a29036663/syringe-exchange-grief-recovery/

Lear more about GRASP (Grief Recovery After Substance Passing) here: https://grasphelp.org/

Learn more about A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Treatment and Healing), a non-profit organization that works to reduce the stigma associated with substance use disorders through education and compassionate support at https://www.anewpath.org/

Learn more about Moms United at: https://www.momsunited.net/

Also, Narcomedia is excited to announce a new project, all from the perspective of people who use drugs: Naturally Noncompliant is a new podcast all about people who use methadone. Listen to the first episode here or on iTunes or Spotify: https://rephonic.com/podcasts/naturally-noncompliant

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 56: Drug Use During Disaster with Aaron Ferguson
Episode 67: Methadone in the Time of Covid with Danielle Russell

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, Aaron Ferguson
Music: Glass Boy / Nomad1
Image: Image via The Noun Project // edit: Troy Farah
Intro voice: Jenny Schaye

Episode 80: A Messy History of Methadone with Dr. Zoe Adams

December 31, 2022 Narcotica Addiction, Episodes, Opioids 01:16:58 0 Comments

At Narcotica, we’ve often talked about how methadone is one of the most over-regulated substances on the planet. It’s not a perfect drug — nothing is — but it helps a lot of people. So why is it so hard to access?

On this episode, the crew (Zachary Siegel, Chris Moraff and Troy Farah) speak with Dr. Zoe Adams, an internal medicine resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, whose thesis was a narrative history of methadone. It’s a long, strange chronicle, from its development in Germany, to becoming a mainstay in Nixon’s War on Drugs, but what’s most surprising is how little has changed. Learn about why this drug is so scrutinized, stigmatized and what people are doing to make it more available.

Follow Zoe on Twitter at: @zoe_m_adams

Read Zoe’s thesis here: https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ymtdl/4049/

If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy:

Episode 73: Oh No! Not Naltrexone! with Nancy Curran

Episode 65: Restoring Trust in Doctors Amidst The Overdose Crisis with Dr. Ben Cocchiaro and Dr. Ashish Thakrar

Episode 67: Methadone in the Time of Covid with Danielle Russell

Episode 48: Moms And Methadone with Elizabeth Brico

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, Aaron Ferguson

Music: Glass Boy / Nomad1

Intro voice: Jenny Schaye

Episode 73: Oh No! Not Naltrexone! with Nancy Curran

June 25, 2022 Narcotica Addiction, Episodes, Opioids 01:08:35 0 Comments

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

Episode 66: Overlooking Alcohol and The Nature of Addiction with Dr. Stanton Peele

January 22, 2022 Narcotica Addiction, Episodes 01:09:10 0 Comments

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