Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction

🧠 Dopey Episode 555: Rich Roll Returns!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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on the tease! Susan is sick! Eating Bad! Dental Surgery Percocet! Nitrous! Montana Prison in Texas! Joey Ramone!MORE! MORE! MORE! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast 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. 🔍 SEO KEYWORDS  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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!    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tease with StephenPublic apologyRecognizing patternsbeing a jerkLSDMore!Hipsters! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 dopeypodcast@gmail.com. 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 ManheimSUPER 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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

www.patreon.com/dopeypodcastThis 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! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

dopeycon tix:https://buytickets.at/thedopeyfoundation/1765668Patreon:www.patreon.com/dopeypodcastA 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! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

im not sure if we actually talk about Keith and Jerry - but we do on the actual epiode at:www.patreon.com/dopeypodcastDopeycon tickets:https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thedopeyfoundation/1765668 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

PATREON:www.patreon.com/dopeypodcastDOPEYCON TICKETS:https://buytickets.at/thedopeyfoundation/1765668The teaser isn't great but the actual episode is wicked fiah. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

https://buytickets.at/thedopeyfoundation/1765668NO INSERTED ADS ON PATREON:www.patreon.com/dopeypodcastThis 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! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

https://buytickets.at/thedopeyfoundation/1765668www.patreon.com/dopeypodcastThis 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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

DOPEYCON TICKETS: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thedopeyfoundation/1765668PATREON:www.patreon.com/dopeypodcastThis 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!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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?Get tickets to possibly the las DOPEYCON ever - here! https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thedopeyfoundation/1765668Listen to the rest of the teaser show here:www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

DOPEYCON TIX HERE: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thedopeyfoundation/1765668This 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!Join Patreon: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

 https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thedopeyfoundation/1765668This 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!Listen at www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on Dopey! We are getting ready for Dopeycon! You coming? https://buytickets.at/thedopeyfoundation/1765668Montana, 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'! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For Dopeycon tickets: https://buytickets.at/thedopeyfoundation/1765668 For patreon: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcastMy Dad is back to talk shit! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.