The Drug Classroom

Dr. Rick Barnett is a psychologist with a doctorate in psychology and a master's degree in clinical psychopharmacology. He owns a private mental health practice in Vermont called BPS Health, LLC and is also President-Elect of the American Psychology Association's Division 55 (American Society for the Advancement of Pharmacotherapy).

He is currently advocating in favor of legislation in Vermont that would grant doctorate-level psychologists the ability to prescribe psychiatric medications. In this episode we discuss that proposal and the potential impact of letting psychologists prescribe medications. Additionally, we talk about psychiatric medicine prescribing in general and as it relates to addiction treatment.

Dr. Barnett is active on Twitter: @drrickbarnett

BPS Health, LLC: https://bpshealth.com/

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Music credit: Lee Rosevere (BY)

Zach Rhoads is a counselor who works with families and children. Along with the psychologist Stanton Peele he has coauthored Outgrowing Addiction, a new book that explains why a developmental model of the disorder makes more sense than the disease model.

The book draws on Zach’s personal experience with addiction and on his work with children in highlighting the often overlooked fact that the natural course of addiction, like with childhood behavioral issues, is to grow out it.

Zach also hosts The Social Exchange podcast, which I have previously been a guest on.

Outgrowing Addiction:

https://outgrowingaddiction.com/

The Social Exchange (podcast):

https://thesocialexchange.libsyn.com/

The Social Exchange (the episode featuring myself):

https://thesocialexchange.libsyn.com/seth-fitzgerald

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Music credit: Lee Rosevere (BY)

Hamilton Morris is a journalist and scientific researcher known for his documentaries, particularly those in the series Hamilton's Pharmacopeia, which is available through iTunes, Google Play, Hulu, and more. He has also written a number of articles for Harpers, which can be found here: https://harpers.org/author/hamiltonmorris/

In this episode we cover a range of topics, from atypical hallucinogens to the US government's experiments with psychoactive chemical weapons.

Morris is also active on Twitter (http://twitter.com/hamiltonmorris).

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How you can support TDC: https://thedrugclassroom.com/support/

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Music credit: Lee Rosevere (BY)

Dr. Mark Lysyshyn is a medical health officer with Vancouver Coastal Health in British Columbia, Canada. The Vancouver region, like many parts of North America, has been strongly affected by the rise in opioid-related fatalities. Dr. Lysyshyn is among those working to reduce fatalities by implementing and expanding harm reduction tools.

He recently co-authored a study looking at drug checking for fentanyl at Insite, a supervised consumption facility. It found a very high prevalence of fentanyl in heroin samples and also showed users do change their behavior, primarily by reducing their dose, when they know their drugs contain fentanyl. This suggests expanding the availability of drug checking could give users actionable information that will reduce overdoses.

You can find the study here: https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12954-018-0252-8

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How you can support TDC: https://thedrugclassroom.com/support/

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Music credit: Lee Rosevere (BY)

Brad Burge is the Director of Communications at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). MAPS is a leading organization in the field of psychedelic research and it has been particularly focused on MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, largely for PTSD.

MDMA appears to be very useful in the treatment of PTSD. A couple therapy sessions with the drug can produce long-lasting benefits in a large percentage of people, including in patients who have been unresponsive to other substances and treatment options.

In this episode we talk about the MDMA studies, how the psychedelic research field has changed over time, and where MAPS' research is headed.

MAPS' Website - http://www.maps.org/

MAPS on Twitter - https://twitter.com/maps

MAPS on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mapsmdma

Zendo Project - https://www.zendoproject.org/

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How you can support TDC: https://thedrugclassroom.com/support/

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Music credit: Lee Rosevere (BY)

Guy Jones runs Reagent Tests UK and is a senior chemist for The Loop, a drug checking organization in the UK. He's also associated with Kosmicaid, a group that offers psychedelic harm reduction services at music events.

Drug checking involves analyzing a substance with tools like reagent liquids and GC/MS in order to gain a better understanding of what the substance is. Misrepresentation is fairly common in the illicit drug market, so if you're not careful, you could end up using something you didn't intend to take. You should always test your drugs before taking them.

The Loop offers both drug checking and educational services at festivals and other events.

In this episode, Guy and I discuss the various ways substances can be analyzed, harm reduction, and research chemicals, among other things.

Reagent Tests UK - https://www.reagent-tests.uk/

The Loop - https://wearetheloop.org/

Kosmicaid - https://kosmicaid.org/

Guy has given multiple presentations on these topics, including these:

https://youtu.be/kL_EVW-24PA

https://youtu.be/TmaPnL4j5s8

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How you can support TDC: https://thedrugclassroom.com/support/

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Music credit: Lee Rosevere (BY)

Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, an online Bitcoin-based marketplace, was arrested in 2013. The authorities primarily targeted him due to the actions of Silk Road's users, who frequently utilized the site for drug transactions. Ulbricht was eventually sentenced to life in prison, highlighting potentially severe problems in the justice system.

The case touches many issues, ranging from drug policy to privacy rights to unfair sentencing. 

In this episode, I spoke with Ross' mother, Lyn. We discussed the case, her son's imprisonment, and how the government is overstepping its bounds.

You can learn more about the case and its implications at FreeRoss.org.

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How you can support TDC: https://thedrugclassroom.com/support/

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Music credit: Lee Rosevere (BY)

Christopher Moraff is a journalist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He's covered the drug war and the regional impact of drug prohibition. He writes for The Daily Beast, NextCity.org, and The Crime Report. 

In this episode we discuss fentanyl's impact on the Philadelphia drug market, prohibition, the "opioid epidemic," and local policies, among other things.

Twitter - https://twitter.com/cmoraff

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How you can support TDC: https://thedrugclassroom.com/support/

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Music credit: Lee Rosevere (BY)

David Juurlink is a physician, pharmacologist, and drug safety researcher. He's affiliated with the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), the University of Toronto, Sunnybrook Research Institute, and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

Though he deals with many drug classes in his daily work, his perspectives on opioid prescribing and the "opioid epidemic" in particular have received a lot of attention. You can find his posts about opioids and many other topics on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DavidJuurlink.

In this episode we discuss opioid prescribing, the long-term risks and benefits of opioids, and his policy opinions.

You can learn more about Dr. Juurlink here: https://www.ices.on.ca/About-ICES/ICES-Scientists/J/David-Juurlink

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How you can support TDC: https://thedrugclassroom.com/support/

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Music credit: Lee Rosevere (BY)

Julian Buchanan has worked in the area of drug policy reform and education for decades. Initially a social worker/probation officer, he eventually become a professor.

During the course of his teaching career, Buchanan worked at Liverpool University, University of Central Lancashire, Glyndwr University, and Victoria University of Wellington.

He was a Consultant and Independent Expert for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

We discuss, among other things, the roots of prohibition, how policies are changing, and the role of factors like race and fear in prohibition.

Julian's Blog - https://julianbuchanan.wordpress.com/

Julian's Twitter - https://twitter.com/julianbuchanan

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How you can support TDC: https://thedrugclassroom.com/support/

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Music credit: Lee Rosevere (BY)