On Drugs

4.7 (378)
SOCIETY & CULTURE

On Drugs looks through the lenses of history, pop culture and personal experience to understand how drugs have shaped our world. Because even if it’s just caffeine or ibuprofen, there’s a good chance you’re on drugs right now. Season 3 starts January 6, 2025.

5 DAYS AGO

S3 E1 Why don’t I stop drinking?

Host Geoff Turner begins his most personal season yet by examining his own relationship with alcohol. In a time when sobriety is on the rise among younger generations, what changed? Through conversations with addiction researcher Dr. Catharine Fairbairn, this episode explores the factors behind the ways we drink, from social habits to self-reflection, and asks if the current cultural shift could lead us toward a more mindful future.

40 min
SEASON 3 TRAILER

Season 3 of On Drugs is coming!

On Drugs returns for a third season, and this time, it’s really personal. This season, we're challenging the typical narratives about addiction, exploring what substances reveal not only about our bodies but also our understanding of consciousness, our motivations, and our very sense of self. Host Geoff Turner confronts his own casual relationship with alcohol, using it as a lens to question the nature of desire, drive, and what we truly seek from life. Launching January 6, 2025.

1 min
2021-09-08

Introducing: The Flamethrowers

The Flamethrowers captures the punch-you-in-the-mouth energy and sound of right-wing talk radio. Host Justin Ling takes us from the fringe preachers and conspiracy peddlers of the 1920s to the political firestorm that rages today. With humour and candour, Ling examines the appeal of broadcasters like Rush Limbaugh, who found a sleeping audience, radicalized it, and became an accidental kingmaker — culminating in the election of Donald Trump. More episodes are available at smarturl.it/theflamethrowers

4 min
2020-09-08 · BONUS

Introducing: Recall: How to Start a Revolution

The 1950s & 60s saw a wave of radical movements. Che Guevara and the Cuban Revolution. The Black Panthers. Quebec and Canada had the FLQ — a showdown that dissolved into crisis. By October 1970, there were soldiers in the streets, communities on edge, kidnapping and terror in the headlines. But those frightening weeks were just the crescendo of a wave of terror and violence that was nearly a decade in the making. This series will reveal the stories of that time through immersive storytelling and the people who lived it: the bomb disposal expert on defusing live explosives, the survivors of terror, their families, and the radicals themselves. More episodes are available at http://hyperurl.co/recallcbc

32 min
2018-05-07

S2 E11 The Spell of the Poppy

Opioid drugs have claimed a shocking number of lives across North America in recent years, as people fall victim to overdose. While the intensity of crisis is new, our relationship with opiates — and opioids, as they're often referred to now — goes back millennia. This is an overdose crisis thousands of years in the making, and in this episode, Geoff Turner dives into that fascinating history to figure out how we got to this point.

1h 2m
2018-05-01

Replay: Miltown: A forgotten pharma game changer

It's just one more week until the season two finale of On Drugs, but in the meantime, enjoy this favourite from last season. It's all about Miltown, a drug that is mostly forgotten today, but helped create modern psychopharmacology. We're proud to announce that this episode is nominated for Best Podcast at the 2018 Radio Television Digital News Association awards.

35 min
2018-04-24

S2 E10 Prison, On Drugs

This episode goes behind bars to learn how Canadian prisons form a nexus of drug crime, trade and addiction. We'll meet people in prison because of crimes committed in the throes of addiction and learn about how prisoners cope with addiction in custody.

43 min
2018-04-22

EXTRA: Bill Blair on implementing cannabis legalization

A feature interview with Bill Blair, the former Toronto Police Chief now in charge of implementing the federal government's cannabis legalization law. He reflects on the transition from drug law enforcement to legalization and regulation.

35 min

See All (36)

TRAILER

Season 3 of On Drugs is coming!

On Drugs returns for a third season, and this time, it’s really personal. This season, we're challenging the typical narratives about addiction, exploring what substances reveal not only about our bodies but also our understanding of consciousness, our motivations, and our very sense of self. Host Geoff Turner confronts his own casual relationship with alcohol, using it as a lens to question the nature of desire, drive, and what we truly seek from life. Launching January 6, 2025.

S3

•

1 min

4.7

out of 5

378 Ratings

Yes, thank you for returning!

4 days ago

peraya

I love this podcast. Thoughtful and well-researched. I’m thrilled for its return, a poignant return at that. Keep up the great work!
On Drugs

2024-12-16

ColinLCampbell

Looking forward to Season 3!
Absorbing and thorough

2021-03-07

mjw52*

I was completely drawn in by each episode. Learned a great deal about the history and use/abuse of drugs across the societal and political spectrum. It’s a shame there are not more episodes, I am sure there is more to tell. Highly recommend.
Refreshing

2020-01-13

Jolie-Louve

Thank you some much for doing something informative and broad about drugs. We really need that as a society.

On Drugs looks through the lenses of history, pop culture and personal experience to understand how drugs have shaped our world. Because even if it’s just caffeine or ibuprofen, there’s a good chance you’re on drugs right now. Season 3 starts January 6, 2025.