Mitchell Gomez: How to Stop Fentanyl Deaths (Encore)

Life is a Festival

Today is National Fentanyl Awareness Day, and I believe this issue to be the most pressing concern facing our community of cognitive liberty. I use drugs and psychedelics to explore my consciousness, and many of the people I love do the same. The issue of fentanyl adulteration and the 100,000 deaths categorized as overdoses in 2020 indicate that this problem affects us all. I personally have friends who have died from fentanyl adulteration.

In this episode, I am reposting a conversation I had with Mitchell Gomez, the director of DanceSafe. Our original podcast was longer, covering various topics before concluding with a discussion about fentanyl. I've shortened that episode, focusing entirely on what we can do about fentanyl: understanding why it appears in various drugs, the importance of testing all drugs, how to test them, why we should carry Narcan, and how to use it. Essentially, this is a comprehensive PSA about fentanyl.

Mitchell serves as the Executive Director for DanceSafe, a Denver-based 501(c)(3) organization focused on health education and harm reduction. He also works as a Harm Reduction Consultant at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. Mitchell has held positions on the CU Denver MURPAA (Master of Urban and Regional Planning Alumni Association) board, the Jefferson County Community Development Advisory Board, and the Denver Drug Strategy Commission Data Subcommittee.

If you're someone like me who enjoys using drugs that are unfortunately subject to misguided prohibition, it's crucial for you to know this information. That's why I'm sharing it again today.

LINKS

• Mitchell Gomez: http://www.mitchellgomez.com/
• Dancesafe: https://dancesafe.org/
• Fentanyl Test Strips – Pack Of 10: https://dancesafe.org/product/fentanyl-test-strips-pack-of-10-free-shipping/
• Dancesafe Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dancesafe_/
• Mitchell Gomez Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MitchellGomezAcamapichtli
• Prohibition-Driven Misrepresentation and How We Can Fix It Together: https://maps.org/news/bulletin/prohibition-driven-misrepresentation/
• Finding Carcan: https://www.narcan.com/
• NARCAN training video - Instructions for administration of NARCAN® Nasal Spray 4mg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGdUFMrCRh4

TIMESTAMPS

• :07 - What is “harm reduction”
• :11 - An “overdose” is actually a “prohibition created drug adulteration deaths”
• :16 - Why we’re seeing Fentanyl adulteration in non-opioid markets
• :30 - Use Fentanyl strips to test your whole bag
• :44 - How to get and use Narcan