DRUG POLICY: January 2022 podcast playlist

Every day it seems like there is a new conversation happening around drugs and policy: legalization, decriminalization, harm reduction, etc. All sorts of previously illegal drugs, from cannabis to psychedelics, are being legalized for recreational and medical use. This month’s podcast playlist explores these trends and will undoubtedly lead to some interesting conversations about the pros and cons.

This playlist is sponsored by How To Do The Pot.

Podcast Listening List on DRUG POLICY

Get the full listening list on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

The Next Big Idea: “DRUG USE: Is Getting High an American Right?” (March 2021, 1 hr 24 min)
Carl Hart, a professor at Columbia University, argues that because “the pursuit of happiness” is an American right, the use of drugs in that pursuit should be protected. He wrote “Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear.”

Intelligence Squared: “Michael Pollan: This Is Your Mind on Plants” (July 2021, 57 min)
New York Times bestselling author, Michael Pollan, talks about the history of altering consciousness through the use of plants. From caffeine to mescaline, humans have experimented with psychoactive plants. But, sometimes the journey to mind-altering states bumps up against culture and law. Pollan wrote “This is Your Mind on Plants” and “How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.”

How to Do the Pot: “111. Legalization 101: Stigma Sucks – Why is There Still Judgment Around Weed?” (November 2021, 13 min)
This episode digs into the stigma around the use of cannabis, especially for women.

Undark: Truth, Beauty, Science: “Ep. 54: Translating Portugal’s Approach to Drugs and Addiction” (March 2021, 29 min)
In 2000, Portugal decriminalized all drugs in an effort to combat addiction and the rapid spread of HIV. This change in focus from law and order to public health was controversial but had stunning results. Now, 20 years later, Oregon is implementing a new drug policy that is modeled after what was done in Portugal.

You’re Wrong About: “D.A.R.E.” (August 2018, 57 min)
At its height, the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program, a federally-funded program founded in 1983 in the US, was implemented in 75% of the nation’s school districts, reached 5.5 million students every year, and drew in an annual budget of $10 million. Did it work? Nope.

Bonus podcast episodes:

• Cover Story: “I See a Sh*tshow” (November 2021, 32 min)
  As research on the therapeutic uses of psychedelics is in a renaissance, this series explores the dark underbelly of the psychadelics world.
• Intelligence Squared: “Michael Pollan and Xand Van Tulleken on the New Science of Psychedelics” (August 2019, 50 min)
  Michael Pollan, New York Times bestselling author, discusses his book, “How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.”
• Today, Explained: “The New Meth” (December 2021, 23 min)
  While the nation’s attention has been focused on the opioid crisis, a new, more dangerous form of methamphetamine has swept across the country.
• Bodies: “Do Less Harm” (October 2021, 47 min)
  Lill is on a mission to deliver safe supplies and care to drug users in West Virginia.
• The Drug Science Podcast: “25. Psychedelics for Addiction with Professor Matt Johnson” (August 2020, 52 min)
  Matt Johnson is a professor at Johns Hopkins and has worked with psychedelics since 2004. He discusses the clinical research that suggests that psilosybin-assisted therapy can treat drug addiction.
• The Experiment: “Life, Liberty, and Drugs” (June 2021, 29 min)
  If you want to hear more from Dr. Carl Hart, the guest in The Next Big Idea episode above, here’s another interview with him.
• Reply All: “#44 Shine On You Crazy Goldman” (November 2015, 42 min)
  PJ and Phia microdose on psychadelics in an effort to alter the way they see and move through the world.
• PSYCHOACTIVE: “1 | Dr. Andrew Weil on Drugs, Consciousness & Healing” (July 2021, 56 min)
  Andrew Weil is a pioneering physician who researches the use of psychoactive drugs for therapeutic uses.

Recommended Books/Resources:

We’ve started compiling recommended books from the podcast playlists and from our chapter meetings on our Amazon Idea List.

• Book: “Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear” by Carl Hart (guest on The Next Big Idea podcast)
• Book: “This is Your Mind on Plants” by Michael Pollan (guest on Intelligence Squared podcast)
• Book: “How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence” by Michael Pollan (guest on Intelligence Squared podcast)
• Resources: Michael Pollan’s resources page
• Article: “How Should We Do Drugs Now?” by Michael Pollan in The New York Times
• Documentary: “Fantastic Fungi” featured many of the guests who appeared on the podcasts we listened to

Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something PBC may get a little something in return.

Conversation Starter Questions:

1. Which episode did you find the most provocative? Did you have any strong reactions of agreement or disagreement on any of the episodes?
2. What do you think about the idea that drug use is an American right?
3. Did the information you learned in the episodes change how you think about drug policy or therapeutic drug use?
4. Have you thought much about the stigma of drug use?
5. What do you think about the idea of decriminalizing all drug use?