Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction

If you wanna hear the full thing — head to 👉 www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast

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This week on Dopey I met Jeff Ross at Katz’s (he thought I’d be short and fat), go through Spotify comments!

There’s a voicemail from Tom in Oregon about trying to cop dope in Vietnam that goes very gay and sideways. Then there’s a super sweet email from Bailey in Chicago, a recovery coach who just hit five years. I also ramble about Mountainside, Oro Recovery, and Recovery Unplugged, and Recovery.com who all actually help Dopey Nation people when they’re in trouble.

Then Rich Roll comes over to my dad’s apartment. Rich literally just flew back from Japan and tells me his first dopey story about doing a guided psychedelic session in Mexico with psilocybin and MDMA. He talks about family trauma, ego, trying to find grace, love, all that spiritual shit — and somehow makes it sound cool. We talk about AA, time, identity, relapse shame, and podcasting. He’s deep and I’m just interrupting him constantly.

We also talk about music (he’s a Radiohead, R.E.M., Smiths guy — no Dead) and the state of podcasting.

All that plus more on the somewhat AI powered new edition of the good old dopey show.

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This week on the tease! Susan is sick! Eating Bad! Dental Surgery Percocet! Nitrous! Montana Prison in Texas! Joey Ramone!

MORE! MORE! MORE!

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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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Dave opens this Tuesday Dopey Patreon teaser by reflecting on feeling burnt out, upcoming dental implant surgery, and the need to slow down. He jokes about “cultivating illness” to get rest and shares his current obsession with the Martin Scorsese documentary series Mr. Scorsese, hoping listeners will “pray and manifest” Scorsese appearing on Dopey. He talks about Scorsese’s film legacy, calling Goodfellas untouchable.

Dave reads a Spotify comment from Emma about a pork ad and debates if it’s anti-Semitic, then begins a new segment reading from Miles Davis’s autobiography — a vivid story about Charlie Parker pawning Miles’s belongings for heroin.

Next, longtime Dopey Nation member Selby calls in with a story about getting through TSA with weed gummies and ends with “stay strong, Dopey Nation, and fucking toodles for Chris.” Dave laughs about TSA searches, harmonicas being mistaken for weapons, and promises either to play harmonica on the road or stop traveling with it.

The teaser transitions into the Patreon preview with Ray Brown and Dave’s dad, where a discussion about politics erupts — his dad talks about kindness, empathy, immigration, and frustration with leadership. Dave tries to steer it back but ends up apologizing for the tangent. The teaser closes with Dave’s song “I Wanna Be Good So Bad,” a raw, humorous original with lyrics about bad desire, frustration, calling his dad, and seeking peace and love.

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This Week on Dopey! Dave opens with a cocaine-barroom parody and rolls into updates: DopeyCon afterglow, Spotify/iTunes comments, LA travel nerves, and sponsor shout-outs. Listener Archie checks in with a salvia-in-underwear saga; another listener writes about rock-salt shrooms and missing the Dead’s final Jerry show; “Chip” reports nearly a year sober and reflects on denial. Then Brace Belden (Truenon) sits down in Dave’s new DIY studio for a sprawling hang: meetings vs. therapy, analysis and trazodone dreams, the weird science of memory, and a brutally honest tour through sex + drugs (boofing Suboxone film, poppers, Whippets/“galaxy gas,” meth, DMT, Quaaludes, coke dick, Hunter Biden-level decadence). They spar on politics without picking teams (meetings in “Trumpy” rooms, why rhetoric isn’t the whole story), react to the Charlie Kirk assassination video, and play a relapse thought experiment (weed→benzos→opiate math vs. “new Research Chemicalss”). They close with Chrome-mags diplomacy drama, a rapid-fire “this or that,” Truenon live show plugs, and Dave’s mural/Patreon notes before the end of another edition of that good old Dopey Show!

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Tease with Stephen

Public apology

Recognizing patterns

being a jerk

LSD

More!

Hipsters!

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Twas a good Dopeycon this year - maybe the last - I wish I had said more - but it was a truly beautiful experience and show. The place was packed - and I am super grateful for all the people who came, participated and sponsored!

Special thanks to Mountainside Recovery for being our title sponsor, LICR for taking in Jay, Recovery.com, RELEASE RECOVERY, The Phoenix House, Wellbridge Recovery, Curious Elixers, Cirque Lodge, Redemption Addiction Treatment Centers, Mike's Amazing Mustard, SoBrewed Coffee, Claire Comai, Rachel Hechtman, Katz's Delicatessen, The Great Cormac, Shortbread Society for the Othello, Janie's Life Changing Baked Goods, Shirley Haperin, My Brother in Law and super amazing producer/stage manager Louis Buelli, Kelly Wills from BRAIN FLOWER DESIGN, Dolmar Pedro, Howard 'Beach', Buksbaum, Danny Ameri, Jason Cabello and Recovery Unplugged, Hardest Working Dope Eric Papa Smurf, Dopey Art Director Britta Borgman, My Cousin Ivy, Ginny, Caroline Dowling, Gil Sachs, Ned Van Zandt, Scott Apgar, Dave Goldweitz, Jim Sondow for coming early and Novak's Video guy Isaac - and anyone ive forgotten please send me an email at [email protected]. 

All the folk in the show! (in order of appearance)Adam David, IDGAF FOOD, Kari Nautique, Brandon Novak, Brace Belden, Handsome Evan, Roddy Bottom, Shane Enholm, The Great Ray Brown, My Beautiful  and Brilliant Linda, James Frey,  Hank Azaria, Fentanyl Jay, Lenny from the Beach, Carl Radke, Sam Miller, Alan Manheim

SUPER BIG THANKS TO TOM FREY and all the fucking bums from the BEACH! 

AND MASSIVE SHOUT OUT for all the super dopes who came - you guys are the best - too many to mention but super thanks to MarK F for the record, Jen for the Chocolae and James Glenny for the tireless art and travel!

Special thanks to all Facebook Admins/ Dopey Zoom Hosts/ Arists/ musicians, writers and anyone who has been a part of our weird and wild podcast family. It all is very emotional for me. Especially big thanks to Ben and Melannie for helping out wiith Facebook/META and the struggle that is dealing with them and me.

Super Special thanks to my family! Linda, susan and Norah for putting up with me through the insanity leading up to dopeycon. And super big thanks to my dad alan for sending me down the long horrible road of addiction that lead to recovery and dopey.

Dopeycon is a ton of emotion for me - to see us all come together and have a good time means more than i can share. To hear that Dopey means anything to you is just so special and powerful for me. I know how much it would mean to Chris too. Stay Strong to our brothers and sisters in and out of recovery and fucking toodles for Chris.

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www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast

This week on the teaser! We recap Dopeycon, I complain about META shutting down the Dopey FB page, we read an email and Doug goes nuts fat shaming me. It's pretty funny - hear the whole thing on patreon!

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dopeycon tix:

https://buytickets.at/thedopeyfoundation/1765668

Patreon:

www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast

A new kind of Dopey! A kinder, Gentler Dopey? Me and New Yorker Rock Critic, Amanda Petrusich sit down to discuss recovering from grief. Amanda lost her husband suddenly during covid from a random seizure. Hear how Amanda got through it raising their one daughter, Nico alone. Plus some of Amanda's experiences covering Phish, Aerosmith, Nick Drake, Bob Dylan and more!

Plus Ben Croxton's shooting story(but not how you think), a horrible kratom death, and me basking in the adulation of being included in Rolling Stone Magazine! Plus a bunch of other stuff - all here!

Also More on this Dopeycon Eve's offering of the good old Dopey Show!

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