Carl Hart is one of the bravest academics I know.  His specialty is neuropsychopharmacology. He's the Ziff Professor of Psychology at Columbia University. He's published hundreds of scientific articles on psychoactive drugs, including many which challenge conventional thinking. And he wrote a book earlier this year in which he discussed his experience using heroin while serving as chairman of the Psychology Department. We talked about that, of course, but I also wanted his perspective on all sorts of other drugs, including MDMA, psychedelics and the growing variety of synthetic substances.

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Professor Elias Dakwar at Columbia University has conducted research studies – supported by federal funding -- into the use of ketamine combined with mindfulness meditation to help people struggling with addiction and depression. I wanted to understand everything about this: Why is he among the very few researchers to receive funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for this sort of work? How does ketamine compare to psilocybin and other psychedelics? What is the experience of subjects in his studies? How does his approach to administering ketamine compare to others? What’s the added benefit of including mindfulness mediation? And what does he think about the future of psychedelic studies and his role in this burgeoning field?

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I wanted to try something different with this episode: to team up with a brilliant friend and colleague to answer questions from PSYCHOACTIVE listeners. Dr. Julie Holland is a psychiatrist and psychopharmacologist who has written many outstanding books, including most recently Good Chemistry: The Science of Connection, from Soul to Psychedelics. Julie is a long-time believer in the potential of psychoactive experiences to open our worlds and heal our minds. And, as you'll hear in her answers, she also has first-hand experience with many drugs, both good and bad.

Julie and I had such a great time that we plan to do more Q&A episodes in the future. We'll give you a heads up on when to expect the next one, but feel free to send us your questions in the meantime! Our number is 1-833-779-2460 for voicemails. Our email is [email protected], and we love getting voice notes recorded on your phone there. Or tweet at me, @ethannadelmann.

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The federal government claimed that Leonard Pickard was quite possibly the biggest producer of LSD in history. There’s no telling if that was true, but a judge sentenced him to two life sentences without parole in a high-security prison. Leonard thought he’d die there, but he was released late last year after serving twenty years.

We talked about the Brotherhood of Underground Chemists who produced much of the world’s LSD in the late twentieth century – their motivations, beliefs and what distinguished them from major producers of other illicit drugs.

Leonard talked about his many years behind bars, living with the belief that he’d never get out. And we talked about the recent explosion of interest in psychedelics research and medicine, as well as his growing involvement in this increasingly legal domain.

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If someone had suggested just five years ago that the day would soon come when the majority leader of the U.S. Senate would co-sponsor a comprehensive bill to legalize marijuana federally, most people would have asked what that person was smoking. But that day has come, with New York’s Senator Chuck Schumer joining with New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and Oregon Senator Ron Wyden in circulating a draft Cannabis Administration & Opportunity Act they say will soon be introduced.

Senator Schumer took fifteen minutes this past Sunday morning to address my questions: Why is he so personally involved in this issue given everything else on his plate? What about first resolving the critical issue, on which most members of Congress already agree, of passing the Safe Banking Act to allow marijuana businesses to work with banks just like all other businesses do? How does he deal with the opposition from not just most Republicans but also a few of his Democratic colleagues as well as President Biden? Will the Senate take the next step on reforming drug sentencing laws? And, by the way, has the Senator ever smoked marijuana?

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Patrick Radden Keefe is a brilliant journalist and staff writer for The New Yorker. His recent book, Empire of Pain, examines the ways in which the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma contributed to the opioid epidemic in the United States by aggressively marketing OxyContin to physicians and patients. His story is unique in its focus on the owners of that company – the Sacklers. 

Patrick's revelations about the ways in which Purdue and the Sacklers gained advantage and avoided responsibility through revolving door relationships with officials at the FDA, DEA and Justice Department are particularly compelling and infuriating. But I also pressed him to address the concerns of legitimate pain patients who use opioid medications responsibly but are now increasingly stigmatized and unable to obtain the medicines that enable them to manage their pain. I challenged Patrick on his view that the entire Sackler family merits collective responsibility for the actions of some. And we had a lively discussion about who should be held culpable for the epidemic of overdose fatalities when so many variables play a role.

Listen to this episode and let me know what you think. Our number is 1-833-779-2460. Our email is [email protected]. Or tweet at me, @ethannadelmann.

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I first crossed paths with Larry Krasner almost thirty years ago, when he was a young activist attorney representing a needle exchange program in Philadelphia. Today he is district attorney of Philadelphia and one of the highest-profile progressive prosecutors in the United States.

We talked about what it’s like to switch sides after decades of criminal defense and to occupy the single most powerful law enforcement position in city government. I asked about his support for local harm reduction policies, as well as his efforts to take on the “evil twin” of mass incarceration: mass supervision. And I pressed Larry on a few questions he was more reluctant to answer, like the influence of his upbringing on who he is now, and whether he might best accomplish his reformist objectives by running for mayor of Philadelphia.

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In the early 2000s, Clive Bates was one of Britain's foremost advocates against cigarette smoking and Big Tobacco. Today he is one of the world's foremost proponents of e-cigarettes as a way to help people quit smoking and reduce the harms caused by combustible cigarettes.

There's no better teacher about tobacco harm reduction than Clive, which is why I pressed him on the toughest questions: Aren't the risks of e-cigarettes still unknown? Shouldn't we be concerned about people developing a lifelong addiction to vaping nicotine? Isn't Big Tobacco just trying to hook a new generation of nicotine users just as the demand for cigarettes is declining? Is Britain's successful experience with tobacco harm reduction really a model for other countries. And, of course: what about the kids?

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Tim Ferriss is an entrepreneur, investor, podcast host and productivity guru who first gained fame as author of the "4-Hour" self-help book series. During the past few years, he has focused much of his attention on psychedelics and psychedelic-assisted therapy both to deal with his own trauma and to help others. He has invested in the nascent psychedelics industry and contributed millions of dollars to support research as a philanthropist and fundraiser.

I’d never met Tim before. We talked about how his own life journey had been influenced by his experiences with psychedelics. I liked the perspective he brings to blossoming debates about the powerful ways in which for-profit interests both expedite research and government approval of psychedelics but also pose risks by putting money first. And we discussed growing concerns regarding sustainability and environmental impact now that millions of people are seeking out plant-based psychedelic substances.

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Dr. Nora Volkow has headed the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which funds a majority of the world’s research in the area, since the early years of George W. Bush’s administration. I was pleasantly surprised when she agreed to join me for an episode of PSYCHOACTIVE since I’ve been highly critical of the agency’s priorities and its failure to fund important domains of research for what appear to be political reasons.

I pressed Dr. Volkow on a host of questions I’d long wanted to ask her: Why does NIDA devote relatively little funding to the sorts of ethnographic research that might provide important insights into the overdose epidemic? Or to researching the health effects and consequences of mass arrests and incarceration for drug law violations? Or to studying the medical benefits of marijuana and psychedelics? Or to better understanding “controlled drug use,” i.e., the ways in which people use all sorts of drugs without their drug use becoming problematic? Or to examining the potential of supervised injection facilities, heroin-assisted drug treatment and other innovative harm reduction interventions that have proven successful abroad?

I also wanted to know how she’s managed the political challenges of working under four different administrations as well as those presented by members of Congress who favor highly punitive approaches to illicit drug use. We discussed her frustrations with current laws that constrain what NIDA can do and how she tries to maintain the integrity of an agency that claims the scientific high ground while operating in a highly politicized context.

I’m fairly sure that Dr. Volkow had never before been pressed on these issues in a public interview. I found her responses frustrating but was grateful for her willingness to have this conversation.

Listen to this episode and let me know what you think. Our number is 1-833-779-2460. Our email is [email protected]. Or tweet at me, @ethannadelmann.

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