Episodios

  • 238. David King | Executive Director San Diego Imperial Valley HIDTA, California Marijuana Report
    Jul 14 2025

    HIDTA published its 2025 Marijuana's Impact on California Report.

    In 2022, 43% of suicides among individuals 25 and under in San Diego County involved THC.

    Emergency visits due to marijuana rose by 521% in California from 2008 to 2022.

    Youth aged 12–17 accounted for nearly 38% of marijuana treatment admissions in 2023.

    High-potency cannabis is increasingly linked to psychosis and cannabis use disorder.

    Executive Director David King join High Truths to discuss HIDTA and the report.

    David King was appointed Executive Director of the San Diego Imperial Valley HIDTA ni 2017 after 28 years of law enforcement service with the California Department of Justice/ Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (DOJ/BNE) and San Diego Harbor Police Department. Mr. King is a graduate of the University of San Diego with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Political Science, and he attended the FBI National Academy (FBINA) 240th Session in Quantico, Virginia. Mr. King began his law enforcement career with the San Diego Harbor Police Department in 1989 where he worked a variety of patrol assignments before being selected as the first task force officer ni the department's history to investigate narcotic and bulk currency smuggling at the San Diego International Airport. Mr. King received state and federal recognition when he was named by Harbor Police, Peace Officer of the Year, in 1995. Mr. King was hired by the California Department of Justice/ Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement ni 1997, and he served on the Clandestine Laboratory Program, Special Operations Unit and supervision of multi-agency narcotic task forces. Mr. King promoted to Special Agent in Charge where he expanded wire intercept capabilities and mission readiness for federal, state and local law enforcement agencies combating drug trafficking organizations operating along the U.S./Mexico Border. During Mr. King's tenure with the California Department of Justice he served as Senior Special Agent ni Charge of regional offices located ni San Diego, Riverside, Orange and Los Angeles before retiring as the Executive Director of L.A. IMPACT comprised of 50 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and is credited with being the largest domestic task force in the United States. During Mr. King's tenure at L.A. IMPACT, his teams were the recipient of three national HIDTA Awards, and he is the recipient of the California Attorney General's Award for Excellence as a Team. Mr. King is a lifetime member of the California Narcotic Officers Association (CNOA), National Narcotic Officers Association Coalition (NNOAC), currently serves as an elected member of the National HIDTA Directors Association (NHDA), and he is honored to work with over 800 dedicated federal, state and local law enforcement officers, intelligence analysts and prosecutors who are assigned to HIDTA task forces in San Diego and Imperial Counties.

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    1 h y 24 m
  • 237. Bart | Mar-Anon
    Jul 7 2025

    Mar-Anon is an important support group for people who have loved ones addicted to marijuana. Mar-Anon is based on the same concept of Al-Anon for alcohol. While AA and MA are for people with a substance use disorder, Al-Anon and Mar-Anon are for families.

    In keeping with the anonymous aspect of the organization, I am just using Bart's first name.

    Bart was a summer camp counselor, camp director and teacher, earning his Teaching credential from Chapman University. After retiring from teaching he started volunteering with Mar-Anon, Every Brain Matters and other educational non-profits. Bart used to think marijuana was harmless. “When I was smoking weed in my 20’s I used to say stuff like, “it’s just pot, it’s not a big deal.” Marijuana was a very big deal for his son, Kevin. Bart witnessed his son experience many episodes of Cannabis Induced Psychosis. Kevin died by suicide in 2018 at 29 years old. The last articulate words Bart heard him speak were, “Cannabis has ruined my life.”

    Resources:

    Mar-Anon - for supportive meetings

    Every Brain Matters - for facilitated meeting

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    56 m
  • 236. Luke Niforatos | Smart Drug Policy
    Jun 30 2025

    There are different opinions on smart drug policies. Some want to decriminalize all drugs, some promote all drug legalization, and there is drug commercialization. What is the balanced approach from international experts? Luke Niforatos with Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions discusses what an expert panel recommends.

    Luke Niforatos serves as the Executive Vice President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions (FDPS) and is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading drug policy experts. Leveraging more than a decade working on drug, addiction and health care issues, Luke drives the strategy behind FDPS & SAM’s federal, state, and educational initiatives. Luke has testified in state capitols across America. He is a sought-after guest on major media outlets including ABC, Fox News, NBC, CNBC, CSPAN, Newsmax, and network affiliates, as well as syndicated and local radio shows in markets coast to coast. Luke has been featured in Time Magazine and as a speaker at drug policy events held by The Economist, the United Nations’ Commission on Narcotic Drugs, and hundreds of town halls. Prior to joining SAM, he was the co-founder of a successful healthcare company. Luke attended the University of Denver and has a Master of Arts from Johns Hopkins University.

    @learnaboutsam

    @gooddrugpolicy

    @lukeniforatos

    Learnaboutsam.org

    Gooddrugpolicy.org

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    57 m
  • 235. Dr. Ginger Constantine | Medication for Cannabis Withdrawal
    Jun 23 2025

    Marijuana is addictive, especially with the high potency products. And with addiction come withdrawal. Withdrawal of THC is not like withdrawal from fentanyl or alcohol. It is more like withdrawal from nicotine - insomnia, anxiety, headaches. The symptoms last about 2 weeks and there are no medications to help. However, going up the FDA rapid approval pathway is a new medication. We talk about this treatment in this podcast.

    Ginger Constantine, M.D. is the Chairperson, Co-Founder & CEO of PleoPharma.

    Ginger Constantine, MD – Chairperson and CEO - with over 25 years of pharmaceutical regulatory and clinical development experience with the approval of more than 15 products filing numerous INDs, NDAs, and MAAs. Previous Vice President of Women's Health & Bone Repair Clinical Research at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals through its acquisition by Pfizer in 2010. Expertise in Phase 1 through 4 clinical development strategy and execution.

    Founded EndoRheum Consultants in 2010, a successful clinical development consulting firm. Member of multiple scientific advisory boards. Has planned, authored and presented numerous scientific studies.

    PheoPharma was granted fast-track designation for PP-01, a new investigational drug for cannabis withdrawal syndrome.

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    57 m
  • 234. Jaime Ross | Nevada Drug Prevention Coalition
    Jun 17 2025

    Jamie Ross wears many hats. She is Executive Director of the PACT Coalition, coordinator for the Nevada Statewide Coalition Partnership and sits on too many boards and committees to count.

    Jamie Ross has been the Executive Director of the PACT Coalition since 2011. She has been involved with substance misuse prevention from a young age, and took that passion into a career creating system wide change to reduce substance misuse.

    The PACT Coalition is a substance misuse prevention coalition in Las Vegas with diverse funding focusing on the spectrum of prevention including mental health, primary and tertiary substance misuse prevention, and the intersection of prevention into all aspects of community building.

    Jamie believes in the power of community to change itself for the better. When a community comes together to solve its own problems, the result is transformative. As Sam Quinones says, ‘the solution to the opioid crisis isn’t naloxone, it’s community.’

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    1 h y 3 m
  • 233. Sue Thau | Communities Can Prevent Addiction
    Jun 9 2025

    Communities can and should lead in creating an environment that prevents addiction. It is much easier to prevent a problem than treating a problem. One high level prevention initiative is fixing the Farm Bill that opened up the door to a new type of poison on Americans. The various intoxicating Hemp products, Delta-8, Delta-10, and others, have never been tested on rats, let alone kids. Sue Thau has been leading the charge in fixing the Hemp loop hole.

    Sue Thau is a Public Policy Consultant representing Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA). She is nationally recognized for her advocacy and legislative accomplishments on behalf of the substance abuse prevention field. She has an extensive background in public policy and has held high positions at the federal, state, and local levels. She was a Budget Examiner and Legislative Analyst at the Office of Management and Budget, in the Executive Office of the President for over ten years. Sue was a driving force behind the passage, reauthorization and full funding of the Drug-Free Communities Act. In addition, Sue has worked to save and enhance funding for all federal substance abuse prevention and treatment programs over the last two decades. She is highly respected as an expert on demand reduction issues by members of Congress and staff on both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill. Sue has an undergraduate degree from Cornell University in Human Development and Family Studies and a Master’s Degree from Rutgers University in City and Regional Planning.

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    1 h y 6 m
  • 231. Robert Harkins | Homeland Security Graduate Program
    Jun 2 2025

    The students at the San Diego State University Graduate Program in Homeland Security use this High Truths podcast as part of their curriculum.

    Robert J. Harkins, MS, is a Lecturer and Academic Advisor (Lastnames: A-M) for the Graduate Program in Homeland Security. Professor Harkins has extensive Homeland Security public safety expertise specializing in offenses and conspiracies involving United States Code, Title 21, Food and Drugs (Controlled Substances Act), and governmental managerial experience, to include investigative planning, critical thinking, and oversight of personnel and programs. Mr Harkins is extremely involved with organizations and associations focused on the networking of professionals in the public safety and public health sectors.

    As an Adjunct Faculty member with the Homeland Security Graduate Program, Mr. Harkins led a major effort to secure external grant support for teaching about Fentanyl to the San Diego County region on multiple levels, and helped design and build demonstration products for a major grant proposal to the CDC that was prepared and submitted via the SDSU Research Foundation. Mr. Harkins works with regional leaders in helping move Fentanyl and opioid abuse awareness to regional, state, and national leaders, and to many people serving in the law enforcement and social services community responding to the opioid epidemic.

    Mr. Harkins represents SDSU and the Homeland Security Program in regular meetings with community leaders, law enforcement leaders, and social service leaders responding to the alarming number of overdose deaths in San Diego County. Mr. Harkins has taught about Fentanyl including the design of Fentanyl education programs for middle school and high school as well as adults. These meetings with community leaders led to the creation of the Community Response to Drug Overdoses (CReDO) subcommittee, which is supporting a mandate by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to create a Fentanyl education curriculum for all schools in San Diego County along with Narcan/Naloxone distribution.

    Mr. Harkins' ability to provide compelling teaching is from the hundreds of teaching episodes he has had in contacting community members, as well as teaching them how to recognize Fentanyl poisonings and then how to appropriately respond. These teaching experiences have given him a profound ability to communicate to a wide variety of people in a compelling way, which has almost certainly saved many lives in the region. Mr. Harkins uses this same teaching experience in teaching and advising of graduate students in the Homeland Security Graduate Program.

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    1 h y 10 m
  • 230. Sean Hemeron | The Good Little Druglord
    May 26 2025

    Sean Hemeon is an actor (911, Criminal Minds, True Blood, CW’s the Husbands), writer and artist. Originally from Northern Virginia, he now lives in Los Angeles with his husband and two Bostons. Sean will have his debut memoir The Good Little Druglord, the inspirational story of a (former) Mormon drug dealer who found redemption as a narc for the federal government—confronting the Russian Mafia, his darkest self, his mother, and the mother of a young man who died because he failed to act.

    The Good Little Druglord is an ode to redemption, recovery, and the mother/son bond—an ultimately UpLit memoir about a gay Mormon drug-dealing narc for the federal government.

    As a drug-dealing meth addict, I embraced my “darkness,” claiming my place among the worst of God’s beasts until my deeper humanity was challenged, when someone died because I failed to act. It was the call from the dead boy’s mother, begging to know what happened, that shattered me.

    I wrote this book to let that grieving mother know what happened to her son, and to let my own mother know what happened to her son. I also wrote this book for those struggling with identity, and for those who care about them.

    I believed I was a decent human, until I was confronted with the reality I was not. I believed I deserved every horrible thing that had happened in my life: abandonment, molestation, and beatings. I deserved to go to prison or be murdered by the volatile Russian Mafia meth supplier to whom I owed thousands of dollars.

    Like many others, maybe you, I spent too many years of my life engaged in a futile battle for self-love and acceptance. As long as I believed I was the cause for the lack, it would always feel like chasing rainbows (or running from them in my warped Mormon case). I picked up beliefs in my childhood from my parents, society, and religion that shaped a false identity.

    It was my fault my depressed mother didn’t love me, so I tried to be the best little Mormon boy I could be. When that failed, I became her worst fear: a hedonist, raging faggot, drug-dealing narc. I rejected the authentic parts of myself, and forced the “acceptable” to be effective until it wasn’t, leading to an implosion.

    It took me nearly twenty years to get here, journaling to find my way as I fought to be loved. I wore this story like a badge of honor in recovery, like a masturbatory glory piece. I wallowed in victim-y stuff, abating shame, but now, the shame is healing.

    I’ve shared my narrative, not just for the collective but to remember myself. It has become my superpower: Never forgetting my addiction makes whatever happens today a bonus, no matter how low I feel.

    There are other accounts of addiction, religious abuse, sexuality, and even gay boys and mothers, but few are wrapped in a riveting tale about a drug-dealing narc for the federal government evading the Russian Mafia. It’s identity and acceptance wrapped in a thriller.

    Perhaps by the end, there may be hope for a drug-addicted loved one, or yourself if you need the help. I hope this story helps you see that you and those you care about can live through your worst fears and nightmares. You, too, can be a mother-effing dandelion fighting to grow through the cracks. You, too, can also make peace with your mother, or her memory.

    My mother proudly walked me down the aisle at my very gay wedding and applauded when I kissed my new husband.

    By the end of this, you’ll want to hug your mother, too.

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    1 h y 10 m