Show Notes
Millions of women use drugs when they’re pregnant. Some are punished when their pregnancies end with a miscarriage or stillbirth, or even when they give birth to a healthy baby. No one knows more about this than Lynn Paltrow, founder and executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW). We discussed the scientific evidence regarding pregnancy and drug use, the media coverage, and the myths that abound – about “crack babies,” “meth babies” and “oxytots.” Not surprisingly, issues of class and race play a pivotal role not just in determining which women are drug tested and sanctioned but also in popular perceptions of who is to blame and what should be done. Lynn and her colleagues have been at the forefront in defending the rights of pregnant women, and hearing about this important work made for a fascinating and at times heartbreaking conversation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
More from PSYCHOACTIVE
The notion of legalizing any sort of illicit drug seemed preposterous to most people just twenty years ago. Now cannabis is being legalized in a growing number of states and countries, psychedelic legalization is proceeding much faster than anyone expected, and in Colombia the president and other leading political figures are talking openly of legalizing cocaine. There are, of course, many ways to legally regulate previously illegal psychoactive drugs. Perhaps no one is more expert on these issues than Steve Rolles at the UK-based Transform Drug Policy Foundation. We talked and debated about various models of legally regulating cannabis, psychedelics and stimulants; the evolving role of the US government and UN agencies; and current developments in Europe, the Americas and Asia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It ain’t easy getting old but the right drugs, used in the right ways, can help. Charley Wininger is a psychotherapist, called “The Love Doctor,” who recently authored of Listening to Ecstasy: The Transformative Power of MDMA. I talked with him and his wife, Shelley, about the ways in which MDMA has proven invaluable in their love relationship, in building deep communities and enhancing sexuality, and in dealing with grief. MDMA, Charley says, “is not an antidote but a salve, a tonic, a rejuvenating vacation that can replenish the fountain of one’s youth.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
There’s more or less never been a drug free society in human history but scholarly examination of the history of psychoactive drugs was surprisingly sparce until just a few decades ago. Paul Gootenberg is a distinguished professor of history, author of books on the history of cocaine, editor of the recently published Oxford Handbook of Global Drug History, and president of the rapidly growing Alcohol and Drugs History Society. We talked about the evolution of this interdisciplinary field of study from its mostly anthropological origins, its connections to commodity, consumption and cultural studies as well as medicine, sociology and politics, and the pioneering works shaping the field. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The renowned ethnopharmacologist and research pharmacognosist, Dennis McKenna, wrote "The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss: My Life with Terence McKenna," ten years ago. That book is being republished, with a new afterword by Dennis, this month, so it seemed the right moment to talk about their relationship and respective evolutions, the experiences, people, literature and ideas that shaped them, and why Dennis regards the book that he and Terence co-authored in the mid-1970s, Magic Mushroom Grower’s Guide, as perhaps their most significant accomplishment. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
I’ve long been fascinated by khat, the psychoactive plant that is legal and consumed widely in Yemen and the Horn of Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti) but that was criminalized in recent decades in the United States, Europe and other parts of the world as Somali and other émigré communities grew. Its history and uses are somewhat analogous to coca in Latin America. Neil Carrier, a social anthropologist teaching at the University of Bristol, is one of the world’s leading experts on khat – its history, economics, markets, social roles, consumption and conflicts over its benefits, harms and “quasi-legality.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.