Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction

im not sure if we actually talk about Keith and Jerry - but we do on the actual epiode at:

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This Week on Dopey! We are joined by Oro Recovery Medical Director - Dr. Jason Giles! We also read old comments and hear from a few dopes in the dopey nation. Then Dave interviews Dr.  Giles—twice board-certified in addiction medicine (via ABAM then ABPM), previously board-certified in anesthesiology and pain medicine, and a recovering opioid addict. He grew up in Santa Monica with a severely alcoholic father, fell into the second-wave ska/mod scene (Vespa, sharkskin suits, amphetamines), dropped out of high school, then clawed his way through community college to Berkeley, volunteering at the Berkeley Free Clinic and falling in love with medicine.

He explains anesthesia’s demands (no pain, no memory; muscle relaxants; airway control), the human connection of pediatric anesthesia, and the hope-work of pain management. In 1999, curiosity and stress led him to divert fentanyl: he edited paper records, carried a 2 mL syringe for a month, then IV-used with sterile technique. After a six-week gap he used again, convincing himself he could “handle it.” Use escalated to daily “after work,” leaving him in daytime withdrawal. The department chair paged him about missing fentanyl; instead of punishment, he offered help and a path into California’s 5-year diversion program (treatment, meetings, testing). Giles detoxed cold turkey, went to AA (first meeting mostly doctors), found he wasn’t unique, and built long-term sobriety (nearly 26 years by his telling), learning service and vulnerability through treatment feedback groups.

With sobriety he finished residency, married, had a son, worked in cardiac anesthesia and pain, and then moved into addiction treatment (Malibu), where his science and lived experience met the work. He and Dave range widely: purpose/mission as a recovery engine; Bill W., boomerangs and ants; truth-serum myths; Halsted (cocaine→heroin), Freud letters, Hitler’s amphetamines/opioids (book Blitzed), kratom (mixed withdrawal profiles), benzos vs. opiates (benzo withdrawal = fear), intraoperative awareness & memory, Suboxone vs. abstinence (cast/training-wheels framing), fentanyl’s dominance (counterfeit pills; heroin now rare), and whether fentanyl appears in non-opioid street drugs (he says he’s seen it). ALL THAT AND MUCH MORE ON A BRAND NEW EPISODE OF THAT GOD OLD DOPEY SHOW!

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The teaser isn't great but the actual episode is wicked fiah.

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This week on Dopey! We are joined by old school recovery/addiction legend Johnny Mac! From Queens! But first we learn about Sky Fly in PA, we hear from a benzo addict in the UK and then hear a nice story about Salvia from Loosey in California! Then we get this fuckin Johnny Mac! A 74-year-old New York junkie-turned-AA old-timer, who lays out his wild ride from Woodside Irish Catholic rules to acid-dealing in Ecuador, nodding out on heroin in Queens, and finally finding peace in AA. Johnny talks about his first bag at 16 (while tripping on mushrooms), copping in Bushwick and Harlem, nearly dying on the toilet, watching friends die, and pulling scams from coke hustles to copper wire “mongo.” He tells insane stories from La Perla in Puerto Rico, sneaking bundles on planes, running a Port Authority newsstand, and OD’ing only to chase the same dope the next morning. But through all the chaos, Johnny shares deep reflections on God, spirituality, and why being “stupid enough not to drink and keep showing up” has kept him sober. This one’s pure Dopey gold—equal parts junkie chronicles and spiritual wisdom. 

All that and more! On the good old dopey show!

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This week on tuesday teaser! We rejoice at the release and all around greatness that is the Charlie Sheen Netflix show - AKA Charlie Sheen.

Then we play a tiny smidge of Luc Zarrato from IG's Marathon2sobriety

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This week on Dopey! We are joined by Tik ToK superstar Gabby Eagen! But first we hear some of the notes and comments from last weeks Dopey - we read an email from a Russian film maker heroin addict who used to get high off poppy seeds. The we hear a crazy drug story from a crazy dopey who gopt stung in his eye by a bee! Then we hear from Gabby! Dave chops it up with TikTok creator and tie-dye shop owner Gabby (Gabrielle) Egan. She grew up in Fayetteville, NC; first got high on Triple C’s in middle school and smoked weed at 12; got pregnant at 13; joined the Army at 17 (diesel mechanic) and drank heavy. Fame hit on TikTok during COVID. Two alcohol arrests landed her on TMZ (Vegas blackout/“kicking a cop,” later a Nashville headbutt). In Sept 2024, Rachel from Against All Odds brought her to an AA meeting—Gabby white-knuckled a hotel night with no weed, flew home, and hasn’t smoked or drank since (sober date 9/20/24). She talks bipolar I (diagnosed 21), quitting carts/edibles, withdrawals, motherhood of four (his/hers/ours), pop-up tie-dye hustle, anxiety about meeting followers IRL, and how group accountability (Sober Girls chat) plus sitting in discomfort keeps her straight. She caps it by telling her whole story in 60 seconds. ALL THAT PLUS MORE on a brand new edition of that good old dopey show! 

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This week on the teaser!

An Old Anonymous friend comes through and we talk propofol, guy on guy 69 and other dumb shit. 

PLUS a Canadian EMAIL - is it the end of Dopeycon?

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This Week on Dopey! Getting ready for DopeyCon - who is coming? This week on the show we have a voicemail from Matt WC on shooting coke - a riveting kratom email - and then we pay a house call to Tzvi Heber in Los Angeles - of Ascendent Recovery and he shares a not usual Dopey Recovery story starting out deep within the orthodox Jewish community. We cover - Jewish identity, loss, resentment, addiction, recovery, community, basketball, opiates, personal growth, spirituality, addiction, recovery, detox, OxyContin, fentanyl, family, spirituality, gambling, community, self-esteem and how Tzvi got better! Plus gambling kicking and much more on a brand new episode of that good old Dopey show!

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This week on the teaser - i read some emails - reflect on the end of summer and get excited for dopeycon - before handsome evan shows up with his family problems!

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This week on Dopey! We are getting ready for Dopeycon! You coming? https://buytickets.at/thedopeyfoundation/1765668

Montana, OG DOPE, writing in from prison, about smuggling fentanyl and Percs past cops by hiding a bundle between his butt cheeks. Another listener voicemail “Gay for Crack” tells a darkly comedic tale of hustling a guy in Baltimore who offered crack in exchange for sex.

Then Anders Osborne and Bill Taylor (Trombone Shorty Foundation, The Phoenix) recount using and surviving during Hurricane Katrina — a lawless, apocalyptic New Orleans with flooded streets, National Guard, no electricity, and dealers flooding in. Anders tells a jaw-dropping story of stealing a kid’s BMX bike at 4 a.m. to ride six miles to cop from a bug-collecting dealer uptown. Bill shares how Anders helped him find recovery after years of vodka mornings and loneliness.

The episode dives deep into recovery philosophy, spirituality, and Anders’ realization after playing Jerry Garcia’s guitar at Red Rocks that fame and status will never fill the void. They reflect on the “Send Me a Friend” foundation, their bond in recovery, and the meaning of service.

Their segment ends with Anders’ High Sierra butterfly story — a psychedelic nightmare/vision where he stripped naked and flapped around during a String Cheese Incident set on LSD, morphine, cocaine, and Dilaudid. Anders later connected the experience to his mother’s deathbed promise to return to him as a butterfly, making the tale haunting and strangely spiritual.

Then Howard 'Beach' Buksbaum Returns to share about his new black girl AI group 'lux'!

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