logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2022
54m 31s

Episode 78: Drug Use in a Post-Roe World...

CHRISTOPHER MORAFF, TROY FARAH, ZACHARY SEIGEL
About this episode

A future where abortion drugs like mifepristone and misoprostol are trafficked just like fentanyl or methamphetamine or where birth control is sold on the street corner like crack cocaine is really not that distant of a reality, if it’s not already happening.

The drug war is deeply intertwined with reproductive rights. That’s not always obvious to some people, but at Narcotica, we will emphasize over and over that bodily autonomy — the core of harm reduction and progressive drug policy — includes abortion access and reproductive sovereignty as much it includes the human right to freely use drugs.

On this episode, Narcotica co-host Troy Farah speaks with Dinah Ortiz, an Afrolatinx drug user activist who has fought for over 14 years for impacted communities. After her role as supervisor at the Bronx Defenders Family Defense Practice, Dinah began doing consultant work as a drug user organizer and activist who has shared her story of parenting during past chaotic substance use nationally and is a fierce advocate for parents in the child regulation system. She is currently the co-chair on the North Carolina’s Survivors Union board of directors and leadership team member of Urban Survivors Union.

Follow Dinah on Twitter at: @Dinahortiz4

If you need to obtain abortion pills, for any reason, for yourself, for your mother, for your sister, or your neighbor, go to PlanCPills.org or AidAccess.org.

Join an Urban Survivor’s Union call by going here: https://www.druguservoice.org/blank-page-3

If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy:
Episode 24: How To Get Abortion Pills Feat. Lynn Paltrow and Francine Coeytaux
Episode 60: Perinatal Panic—Drugs, Pregnancy and Stigma with Ria Tsinas, Joelle Puccio and Erika Goyer
Episode 48: Moms And Methadone with Elizabeth Brico

Follow Narcotica on Instagram, FacebookTwitter, YouTube and support us on Patreon. We just opened a shop where you can order Narcotica merch: narcocast.myshopify.com Help keep this podcast ad-free! Your support is appreciated! We’re on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher and more. Tell your friends about us! Rate us! And thanks for your support!

Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary Siegel, Aaron Ferguson
Music: Glass Boy / Nomad1
Intro voice: Jenny Schaye
Image: Jeff Roberson // edit: Troy Farah

The post Episode 78: Drug Use in a Post-Roe World with Dinah Ortiz appeared first on Narcotica.

Up next
Sep 27
Episode 93: Veterans’ Harm Reduction Battle with Beth Dinges
Despite all the nationalism in our country, veterans are too often seen as expendable. Drug use in the military is as common as any other aspect of society, obviously, but increased stigma and consequences pushes most to the shadows. Harm reduction for veterans is especially vita ... Show More
50m 26s
Aug 28
Episode 92: The Drug War’s Invisible Casualties with Sheila Vakharia
Overdose deaths are the go-to metric for how well drug policy is performing, but those on the ground know that harms from the drug war can include much more than the worst outcomes. As harm reduction policies get swept up in escalating authoritarian attacks on democracy, it’s bec ... Show More
1h 6m
May 2025
Episode 91: Drug Surveillance Won’t Stop at Opioids with Liz Chiarello
Opioids are some of the best drugs ever invented. News flash! But that’s not something you’ll hear from the mainstream media anymore. No, the official message is that opioids are only problematic and even in the instances where they are prescribed by doctors, there’s this baggage ... Show More
55m 15s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2024
Introducing Business Wars: Drug Cartels
Pablo Escobar is a household name, known for his reign of terror in Colombia’s cocaine wars. But it wasn’t always that way. The leader of one of the world’s most infamous drug cartels fought his way to the top throughout the 1970s and 80s. Escobar’s Medellin cartel was determined ... Show More
4m 38s
Jun 2025
#212 Katarina Szulc - Inside the Cartels' Secret Smuggling Operation in Port of Vancouver
Katarina Szulc is an investigative journalist and the host of Borderland: Dispatches, a show delivering raw, on-the-ground reporting from the front lines of Mexico’s cartel war. With a sharp lens on organized crime, corruption, and cross-border conflict, she brings listeners real ... Show More
2h 19m
Oct 6
Trump calls cartels terrorists. Is that enough to go to war?
Nearly a quarter century after the September 11th attacks, the Trump administration is using the language of terrorism to target a new enemy: Latin American drug cartels.The president says we’re in armed conflict with drug cartels.We talk to a Bush-era lawyer who says the powers ... Show More
9m 35s
Sep 2024
Colombia's FARC Guerillas: From Revolution to the Golden Age of Cocaine w/Toby Muse
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia fought a guerrilla war against Colombia’s government - as well as against right wing militias and drug cartels - for over four decades before signing a peace treaty in 2016 and then dissolving in 2017, though splinter faction known as Th ... Show More
1h 20m
Jun 2025
Ex CIA Agent: The Real War is Just Beginning - Andrew Bustamante
Andrew Bustamante is a former covert CIA Intelligence Officer || Sponsored by Venice AI: Enjoy private, uncensored AI with our sponsor https://venice.ai/triggernometry - use code TRIGGERNOMETRY to get 20% off a pro plan || SPONSOR. Hypnozio. Go to https://sponsr.is/hypnozio_Trigg ... Show More
1h 41m
Mar 2024
Ridouan Taghi Gets Life: An Update From The Marengo Trial
It’s been a couple of months since the last episode of Gateway: Cocaine, Murders & Dirty Money in Europe, but business is busy as ever in the world of global drug trafficking. This week, we wanted to share an important update with fans of the series: Ridouan Taghi has been senten ... Show More
36m 43s
Jan 2025
157: The Painkiller Problem: How Fentanyl Took Over America
Hi friends, happy Wednesday! Last year I had a surgery so that I could breathe again, and it’s been nice, thanks for asking! I love breathing. But when I was in the hospital, the doctors gave me some really strong pain medication.  I asked what it was, and the doctor told me it w ... Show More
41m 8s
Apr 2025
165: The Psychotic Actor & Assassin Who Killed America’s Favorite President
Hi friends, happy Wednesday! There are some things from history class that just stick in my brain. Mostly… the murders. I’m sure this isn’t surprising to anyone. Like JFK getting shot in his car. Or… Julius Caesar getting stabbed in the back. And, for some reason I always remembe ... Show More
42m 51s
Apr 2025
356: What if they stole a year of your life?
Abandoned after his parents’ devastating divorce, a neglected teenage son is committed to a psychiatric facility, whose barbaric practices reveal a far more sinister agenda. Today’s episode featured Banning Lyon. You can email Banning at banning.r.lyon@gmail.com or contact him on ... Show More
1h 23m
Jul 2024
326: The 82 Percent #3: What if you discovered a new way to love?
Growing up in the crack epidemic surrounded by gangs, drugs, and violence a man begins repeating these patterns of abuse and infidelity in his relationships, but after a family tragedy, he finds a new path, opening his marriage and his heart.Today’s episode featured Adrian McCoy. ... Show More
51m 59s