1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,000 This episode of the Meatweed Podcast is going to be a bit more serious because it deals with a topic that I have first-hand experience with. 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:16,000 Part of it is me going through some stuff, but a majority of it is, to be honest, other people. 3 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:22,000 Because there's a thing, right, that a lot of people luckily will not deal with in their life. 4 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:26,000 And that something is addiction. 5 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:35,000 The problem with addiction, right, is I could tell you all that I've been through, right, when it comes to me being addicted. 6 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:42,000 Because the thing is, I was addicted to nicotine for what, five years? A decent number of years. 7 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:48,000 I could tell you how it feels to try to quit. I could tell you how it feels to have cravings. I could tell you all these things. 8 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:55,000 But the thing is, I could never fully get into your brain's folds and show you how it feels, right? 9 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:58,000 But there's someone who's really good at it. 10 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:04,000 I've been watching this show recently called Tales From The Trip. It is absolutely amazing. 11 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:10,000 So if you're listening, Tales From The Trip, consider me a fan because I've actually been binging your entire series. 12 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:21,000 And I can't get enough. I mean, these are horror stories from people who have been on the worst trips of their lives, you know, when doing drugs and having these issues. 13 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:29,000 And I have first-hand experience in dealing with that kind of stuff because I used to work in a pharmacy. 14 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:35,000 I've been around people who were dealing with stuff. I've seen people trip and it's unpleasant. 15 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:55,000 This is going to be an interesting episode. Anyway. 16 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:59,000 When it comes to the nature of addiction, it's very difficult to get at the root of it. 17 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:05,000 You see, a lot of people can be addicted to things and it could be something harmless like caffeine. 18 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:13,000 A lot of people who maybe drink a cup of coffee in the morning and they have a headache if they don't. Congratulations, you have an addiction. 19 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:21,000 Is it a strong one? No, it's not one that I could say is particularly dangerous. We're just using it as an example. 20 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,000 The thing is, right, your brain can latch on to anything. 21 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:30,000 And what I mean by that is, you know, maybe the sweet taste of chocolate that there is a, you know, it releases endorphins. 22 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:36,000 You get really excited tasting something nice and sweet, something chocolatey and your body craves more. 23 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:41,000 That's the term, the craving for more. That is what an addiction is. 24 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:45,000 So there are people that deal with addictions that are very light. 25 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:51,000 Some people will have addiction to watching stuff on Hulu, honestly, stuff that's very simple. 26 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,000 Every little thing that could bring a bit of pleasure is addictive. 27 00:02:54,000 --> 00:03:04,000 And for the most part, a lot of societal addictions are, you know, they're okay on a societal standpoint like coffee. 28 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:09,000 But if you drink stuff like an energy drink, yeah, you will get some heads turning. 29 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:13,000 See, we're building up here and we're starting from the very bottom and we're making our way up. 30 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:18,000 We don't start, you know, you don't dive into the deep end. You make your way out there. 31 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:22,000 Okay, you understand now that energy drinks are a bit less healthier than you. 32 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:28,000 They have way more caffeine, they're chemically concentrated caffeine, and they're designed to be more addictive. 33 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:33,000 You know what else is? You know, sodas. Things that are very sweet. 34 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:37,000 Anything with a high amount of fat, sugar, sodium, they're going to be a little addictive. 35 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:41,000 The reason being is because we're mammals. We're animals. At the end of the day, we're animals. 36 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:46,000 Yeah, we're a bit smarter, but you know what? That doesn't change our body's chemistry. 37 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:51,000 Our body's chemistry latches on to these things. High fat, high sugar. 38 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:54,000 These things are important. High carbohydrates as well. 39 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,000 That one's very hard for me because I'm on keto right now. 40 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:03,000 I got home and I just wanted to rip apart a loaf of bread, and I'm not going to lie, it was hard not to do that. 41 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:09,000 I didn't do it. I didn't. The bread is still there, but it's the fact that I want it to, you know. 42 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,000 You know why? Because I'm a creature at the end of the day. I'm an animal. 43 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:17,000 Humans are animals, okay? I don't care how advanced we get. I don't care how much technology we have. 44 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:22,000 At the end of the day, we're just advanced monkeys, okay? That's just what we are. 45 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:30,000 And it sucks thinking about it, you know? But at the end of the day, we're just controlled by this big meat sack in our brain. 46 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:34,000 I keep saying that. I'm on a loop here. Anyway, let's move on. 47 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:39,000 So, high sugar, high fat. What else do we get that's addictive? 48 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:46,000 Being in a state of pleasure of any kind, really. Maybe you're feeling the warm sun hit you, right? 49 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:49,000 Kind of like a lizard sunbathing. You just want to sit there and embrace it. 50 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:54,000 Maybe you're on a beach somewhere, you're just sitting there relaxing, right? It's nice to relax. 51 00:04:54,000 --> 00:05:03,000 Is it addictive? I wouldn't say it is. At least I haven't heard anything or seen anything on record that would tell me that sunbathing is addictive. 52 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:08,000 There might be some. There absolutely might. You know, what I have seen is people going to rock concerts. 53 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:13,000 There's a person who...I remember this years ago. I never looked it up any further. 54 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:23,000 But there was a meme going around that some guy had to go on medical leave because he was physically dependent on going to metal shows, like rock concerts. 55 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:28,000 Like, he was so addicted to going to live shows that he couldn't physically stop himself from going. 56 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:37,000 Now, is this a true story? Probably not. I'm not going to lie. When it comes to the internet, if you put it in a meme template, chances are it's a 50-50. 57 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:45,000 You could flip a coin and see what happens. So we covered baseline addictions, okay? We covered stuff that everyone can be addicted to and it's fine. 58 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:51,000 Another one, alright? Let's add a bit more to it before we move on. Coffee. A lot of people are addicted to coffee, right? 59 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:59,000 How many people listening have gone to Starbucks, right? I myself just went. I just finished my Americano. 60 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:05,000 Could you blame me? It's October, man. Come on. They got the drinks out. It's really hard to drink keto when you're going to Starbucks. 61 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:10,000 But I managed to do it, you know? You can get sugar-free options. That's what I do. 62 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:19,000 And it's funny thinking about this, too. I mentioned sugar as an addictive thing, but there's something else, okay? 63 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:29,000 I'm talking about those people who are addicted to Diet Coke. I know you've seen them. There have been TLC documentaries about these people that 64 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:37,000 there's that woman who drinks Diet Coke instead of water and it's just...don't. Please don't. Don't do that. 65 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:46,000 Listen here, okay? Drink water. It's more vital than you think, okay? You're 70% water. You're a little over 70%, but still. 66 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:55,000 Okay, fine. So we've established a base ground, right? Coffee, stuff that's, you know, sugar, a lot of fatty food and a lot of salty food, stuff like that. 67 00:06:55,000 --> 00:07:02,000 And there are some people who are also addicted to...I was going to say chocolate, but now that I think about it, that falls under the sugary category. 68 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:11,000 So we have these addictions. You know, addiction to food, basically. Let's summarize all of those by saying addiction to food, which is one of the most common ones. 69 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:22,000 I think everyone likes food, right? Okay. So why are these addictions okay, right? Well, the truth is it's because their health effects are miniscule compared to the rest. 70 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:30,000 Whatever else is considered addictive. I had to pause for a moment. I had a hiccup coming up. You could probably hear it building up. 71 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:39,000 Like, I definitely heard that. I'm leaving it in, though. But, okay, we have these baseline addictions, the ones that are like...they're a bit addictive. 72 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:49,000 They're more of a habit, you know? Let's call them habits, which they're not as bad as the second one. This one I'm going to classify a little higher in that smoking, cigarettes, and drinking. 73 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:59,000 These two are, for the most part, you know, they're bad for your health, and they're worse off than coffee, you know? Would you rather drink a fifth of vodka in the morning or a coffee? 74 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:08,000 I'd much rather drink a coffee, right? Well, personally, I'd prefer a Magic Mind. That's right. What is a Magic Mind? 75 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:15,000 Well, do I even have to explain it anymore? You guys already know, but just in case you haven't heard, this is your first episode. Let me enlighten you. 76 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:23,000 Magic Mind, they're good friends of the podcast. They've helped us out in the past before. And let me tell you something. It's delicious. It's very simple. 77 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:30,000 If you want to reduce the cup of coffee you have in the morning, why not just get a shot of Magic Mind? It's a very tiny shot. It's an energy shot, right? 78 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:36,000 You drink it once, you're good to go. Or you can drink it with your coffee, and it'll help boost it, you know what I mean? It's a slow-burn caffeine, okay? 79 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:46,000 It's good for you, too. It's got ashwagandha in it, which is what I really need, because ashwagandha helps me focus, helps me stay on the straight and narrow, and I can record these podcasts all in one take. 80 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:54,000 You want to know why? Ashwagandha is good for your head, you know? It's good for the brain. And hey, flu season is coming up. This thing's got cordyceps in it, right? 81 00:08:54,000 --> 00:09:01,000 Magic Mind has cordyceps in it. It's good for the immune system. Get your immune system nice and boosted up. You don't want to get sick this winter, you know what I mean? 82 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:17,000 I could sing at Praises all day, or you can go to www.magicmind.com slash MWPod and get yourself some. And use my promo code MWPod20. Okay, let me spell it out for you. M-W-P-O-D-20. Get 20% off. 83 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:26,000 Or how about this? How about instead of spelling it out for you, I'll leave a link in the description. You guys be sure to use my promo code. I'll leave it down there, too. Thank you again to Magic Mind. You guys are amazing. 84 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:36,000 Off topic, but earlier I heard a news thing. I heard a news topic, right? That I really wanted to bring up because I found it interesting. Not for the reason you think, though, okay? I'm gonna go right into it. 85 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:51,000 Four hours ago, I heard about this outbreak of bed bugs in France, okay? You're with me so far, right? It's because they banned a chemical that was really strong against bed bugs, but it also killed off cockroaches. Everything's really clean there now, you know? 86 00:09:51,000 --> 00:10:03,000 There's only one problem, though. I was blissfully unaware. As of this moment, I am now aware of it. But I was so blissfully unaware that cockroaches and bed bugs are natural enemies. Did you guys know that? I did not. 87 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:12,000 Like, I genuinely had no idea. This is my first time learning. I'm gonna train- I'm training to be an exterminator, and this is how I learned it. From a talking fish on TikTok. 88 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:27,000 And he went, I don't know, that was interesting. What were we talking about again? Oh, right, addiction. Anyway, we're gonna get to the addiction category. It's a little higher than the regular ones, which is, you know, tobacco and drinking alcohol. 89 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:33,000 Personally, I find nothing too wrong about drinking alcohol if you can handle it. 90 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:47,000 Now, this is where we get to a topic that I personally know. Because the thing is, I make wine, I know how to make it, I know how to age it, barrel age, dry wine, stuff like that. Artisan stuff is kind of my thing, right? 91 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:58,000 Obviously, I don't sell it. I'm not allowed to do that. I don't want to sell it either. This is entirely for me. When it comes to winemaking, that's one thing. Distilling spirits, on the other hand, I cannot do that, period. 92 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:08,000 That's against the law. I'm not gonna do that either. I'm not the kind of person who could do that, nor do I even know the skills to do it. I would probably accidentally burn it, you know what I mean? 93 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:25,000 I heard it has something to do with boiling. That's all I know. But, let's talk about why I know this, right? Okay, there's some people who can handle their alcohol. There are others that go overboard. They'll drink, and they'll keep drinking, you know? They'll drink in excess. 94 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:36,000 That's not a good thing. You don't want to do that. Because, you know, long-term effects are your liver...your liver just really starts going downhill. It takes a really strong hit when you drink too much alcohol. 95 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:48,000 However, the one that I have the most knowledge about, sadly, this is me getting personal, okay? Hear me out. You guys already know, I was heavily addicted to cigarettes for five years. 96 00:11:48,000 --> 00:12:02,000 I started young. In fact, I started around 17, 18. I was too young to start, but I had started. And the truth is, once those claws get hooked onto you, they're there, you know? 97 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:12,000 The taste of addiction is very strong, very sweet. But, what scared me the most about it, looking back, is I was unaware of just how much money I was spending. 98 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:25,000 My life became tobacco. My life became vapes, cigarettes, e-cigarettes. It didn't matter. I had to get nicotine in my body somehow. I did snus. I did little nicotine pouches. I did everything. 99 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:38,000 And the thing is, I was unaware of how much money I was spending. I...unironically, okay? Over that course of five years, I've spent maybe tens of thousands of dollars on nicotine products of all kinds. 100 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:49,000 All in any kinds, including vapes, and including these little snus pouches, which was one of my go-tos when I was learning to truck drive. And I thought I was being healthier. That's the thing, right? 101 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:59,000 When it comes to addictions that are this bad, even though they're affecting your health, you will go out of your way to say, oh, it's not that bad. This isn't as bad as that. That's not as bad as this. 102 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:06,000 Addiction will do that to you. You will trick yourself. You will believe the delusions. I know. I was heavily addicted for years. 103 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:19,000 There's a number of factors that do come into place, though. There's one thing that many people don't really take conscious decisions over. You know, many people can't really change this thing. 104 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:35,000 For me, what it was, what really added to the addiction was my environment. At the time, I was a truck driver, the long-haul kind that are away from their families for days, for weeks. In one case, a full month, full 28 days. 105 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:47,000 Without seeing my family. And it really affected me. And the thing is, I used it as a coping mechanism. Tobacco became this thing that, well, nicotine, you know. 106 00:13:47,000 --> 00:14:07,000 Nicotine became this thing that I used just to kind of numb my emotions. I had just gotten to the point where it was self-medicating. And a lot of people do use substances in that way. A lot of people will use, you know, nicotine or alcohol. And that's something that I got to tell you right now. 107 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:22,000 You will only make things worse by trying to do that. If you are addicted heavily to nicotine, I suggest slowly winging your weight down. That's what helped me. I just slowly reduced the amount I was using. And then I was able to clean it, you know, to cut it cold turkey. 108 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:37,000 But oh my god, that cold turkey, right? For three days. It is agony. For three days. It's worse than a coffee headache. You know what I mean? You know when you haven't had caffeine and your head hurts a little because you're addicted to it? 109 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:57,000 It's much worse than that. Your entire mood shifts. The problem is, it's painful to let go of stuff like that. It's painful to let go of an addiction. But it's necessary. It's necessary pain, okay? Your brain is rewiring. It's finally taking in those emotions that you so numbed with nicotine. 110 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:12,000 And I got to tell you right now, it's not...this voice that I have is actually partially a result of the amount I smoked. And it permanently damaged my lungs. You can hear my voice. My voice used to be a bit higher. But now listen to it. 111 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:30,000 I mean, it is what it is, right? I have a podcast now. Some people like my voice. But the thing is, it's a result of a really sad past. It's a result of trauma. It's a result of me dealing with addiction. And I'm glad that I can look back now and realize that I've grown as a person. 112 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:39,000 Many people aren't that lucky. Many people aren't fortunate to be able to look back and say, I no longer do those things. Many people look at the past and realize nothing has changed. 113 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:57,000 I'm happy that I am where I am now. Because the truth is, I did not quit on my own. I quit because of somebody else. I quit because I now had support. And that really does help. I had the loving support of my girlfriend and I got to thank her so much for that. 114 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:18,000 Even the other day she mentioned, hey honey, it's been this long since you smoked or did any tobacco at all. I've almost got a full year. Which the first week is the hardest. And I've heard that now that I've been clean, now that I've been smoke free for almost a year now, my lungs are fully back. 115 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:35,000 And it feels amazing. I can run again. I have all this energy. And I feel the way I felt before I even started. It really does hold you back using any substance for anything. If you self medicate, please. I insist that you look in the mirror and you tell yourself. You have to tell yourself this too. 116 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:46,000 When you're addicted or naked teen, you have to tell yourself, I have a problem and I want to stop. No one who has an addiction is proud of it. You know what I mean? Most people who are, they're probably just making a joke. 117 00:16:46,000 --> 00:17:04,000 And after that, it's just taking little steps to get away from it. Now as for addiction to alcohol, I can't personally talk about it because I am not there. You know? I'll drink a glass of wine maybe once a week. That's it. 118 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:23,000 That's because I've set boundaries for myself. I know that I have an addictive personality and I do not wish to pass that threshold. There's people that can binge drink on the weekend. I am not that kind of person. There's people that can drink hard liquor. I had an old buddy who could drink half a liter of vodka, by the way. I don't know how you did that for the love of God, stop. 119 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:40,000 And no, you know? I say old buddy because I'm going to talk no more. And I don't know. I don't understand alcohol as much as other people. Wine is my limit. That's it. I can't even drink beer. I don't like the effect that it has on me. 120 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:56,000 Beer for me doesn't taste good. It's more, you know, it's an acquired taste I guess. A lot of people who enjoy it. Good for them. I'm not a beer guy. I tried IPAs. It just did not work. Wine was my thing. Wine is my go to. 121 00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:08,000 Distilled spirits on the other hand is just alcohol plus. You know what I mean? Amazon Prime of Liquor. That's funny. But yeah, these are these two. Cigarettes and alcohol. 122 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:22,000 Alcohol. I would talk more on, right? But I don't. I've had one bad experience with it, okay? Let's talk about it. It's the same era where I was self-medicating with nicotine. I had a little too much to drink in Las Vegas. 123 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:35,000 And I threw up all over myself. That was embarrassing. And exactly. That's kind of the moment that I stopped. You know some people say let's never drink like that again. And then they do it again. 124 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:50,000 I'm the kind of person. I'm a man of my word, okay? That's who I am. I'm a man of my word. So when I said that, I meant it. Because that was the last time I ever drank to the point where I was so dizzy I couldn't even stand up. 125 00:18:50,000 --> 00:19:12,000 And I don't understand people enjoying that feeling. I understand self-medicating. Because if you want to escape something, that's an option. Often I do look back on those times and I realize just how dark that era was. It had its highs and lows, but you know, it is what it is. 126 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:25,000 Alright. I guess it's on to the last topic which is above. A cut above everything. Also I guess in the classifications of cigarettes and alcohol, we can classify marijuana. It depends on the state you're on, right? 127 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:38,000 In California it's illegal, so people smoke it all the time. A lot of people do edibles. But personally I don't see the harmful effects. I guess, you know, a lot of people still have this old notion that it's a gateway drug. 128 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:48,000 Which, no. No one smokes weed and then goes, oh I should try crack. No one does that. However, crack is kind of the next category we're going to talk about. 129 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:59,000 Because it's not just crack. It's every substance that's, if I remember correctly in the pharmacy, it's schedule 4 and above. Which is 4, 3, 2, and 1. 130 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:10,000 Schedule 4 is addictive. Schedule 3 is more addictive. Schedule 2 is highly addictive. Schedule 1 is street level drug that is completely and has no medical use whatsoever. 131 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:19,000 While we're on that topic, you guys might be surprised to learn this little fun fact, okay? A little bit of fun fact for you guys, okay? Everyone listen up. 132 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:30,000 Cocaine. You guys probably think it's a street drug, right? Well, surprisingly it's a schedule 2 drug. Which that means, that means there's an actual legitimate medical use for it. 133 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:39,000 In certain hospitals you can find a liquid form of cocaine that can actually be used to, you know, help someone out. You know, it's a last case scenario, you know? 134 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:49,000 A worst case scenario kind of drug. Where they don't want to use it, but it's a schedule 2. It's incredibly powerful. It can basically bring someone back from a certain state of being. 135 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:59,000 And let me just check Google, make sure I'm not wrong. And I am wrong about one thing. It's cocaine hydrochloride, which means it's actually a numbing agent. I'm sorry. 136 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:12,000 But yeah, it's not used to bring someone back. It's more like before a medical procedure, cocaine hydrochloride will be used and it'll numb the person out. Which I didn't know it did that actually. That's actually surprising. 137 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:20,000 I mean, I'm just saying there's probably a much, much better medication for that. But like, you know, to each their own, I guess. 138 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:30,000 Another fun fact. I was actually in college when Vicodin became a schedule 2 narcotic instead of a schedule 3. If you guys don't know what that is, it's essentially Tylenol with codeine. 139 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:44,000 Which, was it that one? No, yeah, it was Vicodin. There was a lot of stuff going on. This was a few years back now. But I was around, I was around medical school when it changed to that, you know what I mean? 140 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:56,000 Whenever I say medical school, people probably think, oh, you were going to be a doctor? No, I was always going to be just a pharmacy tech. I mean, it was a career choice that I was curious about. 141 00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:06,000 And once I started working in it, it took two years for me to realize, oh, I don't like this. Period. I mean, the medical part is really cool, right? 142 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:16,000 That was fun. It's just interacting with certain customers. You just, you got to learn how to do that right. And my coworkers didn't help. Period. Like, I was not trained properly. 143 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:26,000 Anyway, moving on from that. I don't want people hearing this and going, oh man, he hated his coworkers. Not the case at all. It's just, it's very hectic. It's very fast paced. 144 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:31,000 If you don't know what you're doing, it's much worse. And I never knew what I was doing. I never knew what the fuck I'm doing anyway. 145 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:41,000 Okay, fine. Let's move on to schedule one street level drugs. What would that be? Well, you got crack. Period. That's it. That's it. Right there. It's that fast. You know what I mean? 146 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:53,000 Listen, I don't know how to explain this, right? I want to talk about what certain drugs do to the body, but at the same time, I'm not well versed as much as I used to be. 147 00:22:53,000 --> 00:23:01,000 Although I know Alprazolam is, you know, Xanax. That was very popular for a time. When I was in medical school, it was actually really popular as a recreational drug. 148 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:09,000 But a lot of people died as a result because they overdosed. They would take a whole bar and it's like, no, you don't do that. A whole bar of Xanax. 149 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:14,000 You'd be able to tell because they have individual divots, which you're supposed to break and then take like one fifth of it. 150 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:20,000 It's not, you're not supposed to take five doses at once. That's basically what that, what people were doing. 151 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:31,000 And beginners would unfortunately overdose. A lot of stories have come from people overdosing and just coming back from death, getting really close and making their way back. 152 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:40,000 That's where Tales from the Trip comes in. Seriously, go watch his channel. It's so good. It's so good. I mean, I mean, holy shit. I absolutely love it. 153 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:52,000 I'm singing praises to him because I binged his channel. And the thing is, medical stuff is very interesting to me. This is a side of medical stuff that I had seen from a distance. 154 00:23:52,000 --> 00:24:02,000 This is never something I studied in depth because it was such a big faux pas. And someone tackled it, you know, someone bit the bullet and said, fine, I'll do it. I'll read the stories. 155 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:09,000 I'll tell people what it's going on. You know what I mean? And he did it. Awesome. More people should be interested in that concept. 156 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:21,000 What people who are overdosing on drugs, what they're going through, how they felt like, how they got there in the situation that led up to their, their inevitable, you know, demise. 157 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:34,000 What led to the end, basically? We as humans need to understand that no one chooses to start a drug habit. Nobody goes out and says, I'm going to ruin my life. 158 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:43,000 It just happens mostly from circumstance. There are a few people who sadly, yeah, they'll do that. They'll say, I'm going to ruin my life. And then they'll get clean and come back. 159 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:54,000 But the overdoses, that's what scares me because people will, well, they'll get incredibly, they'll get right there to the point where it's like, okay, a little more, they'll be dead. 160 00:24:54,000 --> 00:25:05,000 Period. It's a dark topic. It's such a downer to talk about. But at the same time, a lot of people, I don't know, I've never dealt with people abusing drugs like this. 161 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:17,000 I have actually had one, now that I think about it, but it was my old neighbor. He overdosed on fentanyl and died. And we were the same age. 162 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:27,000 So that's the new drug. I've a lot of people are on fentanyl right now. And sadly, it's because it's so cheap and synthetic. A lot of people can get their hands on it easily. 163 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:37,000 And I'm noticing around Oregon, Pennsylvania, a lot of the big inner cities, a lot of places are getting an abundance of it. And it's very scary to think about. 164 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:48,000 Having said that, there's an aspect of these heavy, hard drugs that a lot of people, every single one of them have one thing in common. If you take too much of them for a prolonged period of time, 165 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:57,000 okay, if you're constantly bombarding your senses with all of these drugs, whether it be Xanax, whether it be actually a mixture of marijuana and crack. 166 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:05,000 I remember hearing a story about that. A mixture of all of these hard drugs, right? You know, oxycodone. Okay, you get it. You get it. 167 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:13,000 So basically, you have these prolonged experiences where you're doing the drugs over and over and over again for months at a time for some people. 168 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:23,000 Or doing LSD, acid, mushrooms, all that, okay? What happens if you do it for too long and at high doses? 169 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:31,000 You enter psychosis. Almost every single drug has that. They have the effect of psychosis. And that is what scares me the most. 170 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:40,000 It's essentially your brain saying, you better stop. You're going to kill us both. I'm going to terrify you. I'm going to traumatize us both so that you stop. 171 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:52,000 That's when your heart rate skyrockets. And I guess the unofficial term, or I guess the lingo is, you know, you're tripping balls or you're having a bad trip, okay? 172 00:26:52,000 --> 00:27:00,000 But in the medical field, that's called your body fighting back. It's your body going, okay, this addiction is killing us. 173 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:11,000 That's, it's scary. It's scary to me. And I remember, I wanted to talk about some stuff in the pharmacy, but unfortunately there are some laws that restrict me from talking about it. 174 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:21,000 I'm not even going to attempt it, okay? Because these laws are so strict that the FBI will kick down my door and say you're not supposed to say that and you already know you're not supposed to say that. 175 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:33,000 I know it's called HIPAA laws. I'm not going to break those. Having said that, I can summarize the entirety by saying these three very important words, okay? 176 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:44,000 These, these, these words are, don't just apply to kids. They apply to every single adult listening, every single teenager, everyone who is still going through life, everyone alive. 177 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:57,000 Don't do drugs. Period. That's that simple, okay? I mean, it really, it was really that easy of an, of an answer. You know, when we were kids, we were told that, don't do drugs, say no to drugs. 178 00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:08,000 And yet the D.A.R.E. program was an immense failure. You want to know why? Okay. If you want to teach kids not to do drugs, don't tell them, drugs are bad. I am an official man. 179 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:22,000 This was, D.A.R.E. started during the peak of the rebellion era. That's why I started smoking. It was an act of rebellion. I saw the truth thing, you know, the, I saw those PSAs that are supposed to tell you, oh, the truth of nicotine. 180 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:33,000 That made me smoke. And it upsets me that they're still getting funded. A lot of people don't fucking realize truth.org is run by the tobacco companies, okay? 181 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:45,000 It's gotta be, because that shit is so cringe that it made me smoke. Five years later, every time I see those ads, I just think, if it wasn't for these ads, I wouldn't have done it. You know? 182 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:54,000 And if it wasn't for D.A.R.E., some people wouldn't have tried drugs. Sometimes by trying to stop people from doing things, you push them over the edge. 183 00:28:54,000 --> 00:29:04,000 So, this is me telling you all. It is your personal choice what you do with your life. I'm simply asking you to make the right decisions. 184 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:11,000 That's gonna do it for this episode of the Meat Wheat Podcast. Thank you all for listening. I know this episode hit a bit harder than usual. 185 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:17,000 And especially at the end, because I got a bit heated, because I think of, I think of the corruption in this world, okay? 186 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:25,000 And it just boils my fucking blood that I was an end result. That my voice, that I was permanently scarred by these fucking tobacco companies. 187 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:33,000 Yeah, I got heated. Sorry about that. But, we gotta keep smiling. 188 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:43,000 Because the truth is, I am sober. I am tobacco free. I have beaten my own addiction. 189 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:50,000 That is gonna do it for this episode of the Meatweed Podcast. Be sure to check out Tales from the Trip. 190 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:57,000 Be sure to purchase Magic Mind. Check the link tree in the description. By all means, just have a great week. Okay? 191 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:01,000 Because life is short. Don't make it shorter. 192 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:07,000 Alright, see you guys next week. And, my email is still open. So, if you want to message me, that's fine. 193 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:17,000 Also, I have a thing to bring up. I was unaware of this until today. But, Apple Podcast, a lot of people have been rating me 5 stars. 194 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:38,000 I want to thank you all so much for that. Seriously, thanks. You guys are amazing. See you guys next week.