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This week on Dopey! Dave opens the episode feeling sick, dreading his upcoming dental implants, and joking about painkillers, nitrous, and Tylenol PM. He congratulates longtime dopes Margaret Hernandez (36 years sober) and Mattie Veach (recovering from cancer surgery), prays for the Knicks, and introduces guest RJ Elizarraz, co-host of Against All Odds with Rachel Slocum and founder of Oak Forest Recovery.

Before diving in, Dave reads Spotify comments from the Brace Belden episode — about therapy, high memories, Suboxone, and more — gives shoutouts to listeners, and pushes the legendary Dopey socks. He jokes about how each platform reacts differently: Patreon loves him, Reddit hates him, Facebook doesn’t care.

He plays an old Miles Davis clip about Charlie Parker doing drugs and sex in a taxi while eating fried chicken, and finds the recovery moral in it — acceptance is the key. A listener named Nathan from San Francisco sends a disgusting classic: at 12 he cooked and ate his own poop hoping it would make DMT. It didn’t. He puked, got bullied, overdosed, and finally got sober. Dave laughs, calls it top-notch Dopey storytelling, and awards him socks. 

Then comes the main interview with RJ Elizares. They record in RJ’s Westlake Village home — complete with an infrared sauna, cold plunge, and jade crystal massage bed. RJ also runs a marketing agency for medical clients and has a 13-year-old daughter.

RJ tells his story:

Grew up in Westlake, straight-edge nerd playing video games and paintball.

Swore he’d never do drugs, then caved at 15 after a best-friend betrayal.

Smoked weed with his stepbrother, laughed hysterically at Maury Povich, devoured frozen peas, and instantly became “the stoner.”

Started selling weed and stealing paintball gear; pulled off a heist from an optometrist’s back-room store until his stepbrother turned him in for the reward.

Skipped school, bribed attendance clerks with weed, got caught high at a parent meeting, expelled.

At continuation school, excelled while high, manipulated teachers, and got expelled again for lying.

Ran away on a dirt bike, sold weed full-time, then transferred to another continuation school where a rival stabbed him in the arm with a pencil for “selling on his turf.”

Graduated early by testing out, kept selling, moved out, and lived off weed money.

With his girlfriend (later the mother of his daughter) did ecstasy, coke, Xanax, mushrooms, pills — everything but heroin.

She overdosed on ecstasy and stopped breathing before being revived — a turning point moment.

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