Advocating for Small Businesses feat. Benny the Butcher
The Buffalo-born rapper and entrepreneur explains the difference between the weed business and the cannabis industry- how is this semi-legal system working for people trying to come off the sidelines and out of the black market and criminal justice pipeline and do it legitimately? How can we ensure those people get to play the game and aren’t thrown right back into the underground by a system that favors deep-pocketed corporate players? Benny strikes a positive optimistic tone as he talks about the need for a collective of smaller sized business owners, and the need for a coherent national policy to realize the promise of the early progress of legalization and decriminalization. A new episode of The War on Drugs will be available every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts and Stand Together Music in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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46:47
Fighting Off Pain feat. Riley Cote
Like Episode 3 guest Liz Carmouche, former NHL enforcer Riley Cote knows something about pain. And also about the problematic cycles of machismo and stigma that can prevent people from seeking out certain paths to treatment and remedy. Riley overcame those obstacles in his own life, finding success in pain management and mental stability with cannabis and other alternative treatments. He now advocates for others like him to have access to these medicines, and avoid the paths to alcohol / opioid addiction, depression, and even suicide he has witnessed far too many times among his peers. A new episode of The War on Drugs will be available every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts and Stand Together Music in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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46:11
Permission to Change Your Mind feat. John Osborne
Grammy-winning musician John Osborne never imagined he’d turn to psychedelics. But when he went through a mental health breakdown, they saved his life. A skeptic turned advocate, John shares how psilocybin therapy helped him recover from deep depression, persistent anxiety, and more. With research continuing to demonstrate that psychedelics may offer a powerful treatment option for many, why are they still illegal? And how many lives could be saved if we let science and new research shape our drug policies? A new episode of The War on Drugs will be available every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts and Stand Together Music in association with Signal Co. No1. Additional notes:To find more information about psychedelics and the evidence-based approaches used to treat various mental health conditions, visit the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) website. LINKSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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50:19
The Business of Big Cannabis feat. B-Real
Lead MC of the legendary Cypress Hill, B-Real grew up in LA at the height of the drug war, initially on the street hustling side of things. Music took him out of that life, but when California began to legalize in 2016 B-Real got back into the game on the legitimate side. He found however what many early-adopting entrepreneurs are finding - the Federal ban means you can’t use the banking system, and when you try and expand state to state you’re faced with a byzantine maze of conflicting regulations. What all this means is that the people that were formerly operating outside the system - are finding that operating inside the system is something of a dead end. B-Real’s companies employ hundreds of people in California, and could do so for thousands nationwide. But small operations like his can’t afford the regulatory navigation, so are increasingly losing market share to bigger institutional players, or worse, being driven right back into the black market. A new episode of The War on Drugs will be available every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts.The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts and Stand Together Music in association with Signal Co. No1. Additional Notes:Because of federal restrictions, most banks won’t work with cannabis businesses, forcing them to operate almost entirely in cash. This makes them easy targets for crime and creates huge financial challenges. Reforms are needed so legal businesses can use banks like any other industry— reducing crime, improving oversight, and keeping the public safer. To learn more, click here. High taxes, complex regulations, and expensive licensing don’t just hurt legal cannabis businesses—they push consumers back into the black market. When legal products are too expensive or difficult to access, unregulated sales grow, putting people at greater risk from unsafe products and criminal activity. To learn more, click here. The podcast, its co-hosts, and its sponsors do not endorse or promote any specific products or companies discussed during the episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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39:41
Mental Health, Finding Sobriety, and the Power of Community. feat. Marcus King
Marcus King grew up in Greenville, SC, watching people around him get written off—criminalized instead of helped, cast aside instead of supported. His own story could have gone the same way. Instead, music, finding sobriety, and building supportive community saved him. In this episode, Marcus talks about his journey to sobriety, the shifting cultural conversation around addiction, and why meeting people where they are—without stigma or judgment—is the key to real change. A new episode of The War on Drugs will be available every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. The War on Drugs is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts and Stand Together Music in association with Signal Co. No1.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Welcome to season two of The War on Drugs podcast, co-hosted by comedian Clayton English and Greg Glod, advisor to Stand Together on Criminal Justice and Drug Reform. This season, we’re bringing you real stories from real people—artists, athletes, and influencers like B-Real, Marcus King, Ricky Williams, John Osborne, and many others who lived the impacts of the War on Drugs firsthand. We’ll explore how drug policy isn’t just a political issue—it’s personal. We’ll talk about pain management, mental health, overcoming addiction, entrepreneurship, and the fight for personal freedom. The War on Drugs isn’t over. And the stories we share this season prove it.
USA