Dopey 600: Smoking Meth and Stealing Pigs With His Mom, Smuggling Heroin in Prison, IV Everything and the long road to recovery|: Garet McLendonDopey 600: Smoking Meth and Stealing Pigs With His Mom, Smuggling Heroin in Prison, IV Everything and the long road to recovery|: Garet McLendon
Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction
Timestamps 00:00:00 – Dopey opening song 00:01:02 – Oro Recovery 00:02:26 – Dave considers dismantling the Dopey studio 00:03:19 – Garrett McClendon and DopeyCon 00:04:51 – Mr. Jason celebrates one year sober 00:06:17 – Haley celebrates five years 00:07:16 – A childhood fight and the mysterious Shell 00:08:05 – Ben Croxton celebrates four years 00:08:21 – Dopey’s unofficial 600th Friday episode 00:09:26 – DopeyCon, Patreon, merch and community business 00:11:49 – Mountainside, Brayburn and Workit Health 00:13:30 – Hippie Earl’s first time shooting heroin 00:16:32 – One year sober after heroin, crack, ketamine and kratom 00:17:27 – Dopey versus Phish and Hamilton Morris at DopeyCon 00:18:21 – Jeff Garlin listener comments 00:30:20 – Garrett McClendon joins the show 00:32:31 – Growing up with a mother addicted to meth 00:34:40 – Fighting his mother’s abusive boyfriends 00:36:52 – His mother goes to jail and Garrett finds the street 00:39:10 – Selling speed at school and finding belonging 00:41:33 – Dropping out and supporting a meth habit 00:43:50 – Garrett and his mother steal three pigs 00:46:03 – His mother sells the pigs and shorts him 00:47:50 – Trading half a gram of meth for a Toyota Celica 00:50:11 – Smoking meth from stolen light bulbs 00:52:30 – Bonding with his mother through drugs 00:54:39 – Weeks awake and surviving on one Whopper a day 00:56:55 – The mysterious stranger and the purple crank 00:59:09 – Stealing wheels after the purple meth destroys him 01:01:16 – Inside the Antelope Valley meth-manufacturing world 01:03:13 – Buying and processing thousands of Sudafed pills 01:06:33 – Spun, RV meth labs and the disappearing cook 01:08:47 – The “chef,” the compound and endless tweaker projects 01:10:57 – Ordered to steal an enormous sentimental boulder 01:13:05 – Juvenile hall, stolen vehicles and adult prison 01:17:41 – Learning to survive incarceration 01:20:01 – Drugs, pruno and staying alert inside prison 01:22:17 – Prison gave Garrett structure, sleep and physical strength 01:24:33 – Racial politics and brutal prison riots 01:26:39 – Protecting vulnerable prisoners 01:29:01 – The clash of the titans 01:31:21 – Fighting another giant prisoner and earning respect 01:33:41 – Recovery meetings inside prison—and using immediately after release 01:35:54 – Another stolen car and Garrett’s dream of running a prison drop 01:38:04 – Training a runner to jump the prison fence 01:40:26 – The successful duffel-bag drug drop 01:42:28 – Breaking up and selling meth inside prison 01:44:47 – Smuggling contraband through a trash can 01:47:01 – Shooting meth and heroin after prison 01:49:21 – Goofballs and “going nowhere fast” 01:51:43 – 168 traffic tickets and the cycle of treatment and relapse 01:53:36 – No teeth, no home and eight years away from his daughter 01:55:53 – Feeling freer in prison than on the outside 01:57:43 – Levi’s hug and Garrett’s decision to stay 02:00:02 – The counselor who finally broke through his defenses 02:02:21 – A catastrophic meth-fueled car crash 02:04:37 – Seventeen months at New Vision and the beginning of recovery 02:07:03 – Living amends and rebuilding from nothing 02:09:22 – Buying his daughter’s college-graduation dress 02:11:21 – Construction, service and the birth of Mindset Recovery 02:13:44 – Returning to his old neighborhood without using 02:15:59 – Garrett’s message to Levi 02:17:00 – SafeSpot and closing thoughts 02:18:20 – More Jeff Garlin listener comments 02:23:00 – Stay strong and toodles for Chris 02:23:25 – Closing song
2:27:54•18 Sept 2026
From Meth, Prison Drops and Stolen Pigs to a Life in Recovery
Episode Overview
- Addiction can shrink life goals down to things like pulling off prison drug drops, even when the risks are huge.
- Prison routine, food and sleep gave Garrett more stability than life on the streets, even though he still returned to using when released.
- Early exposure to AA and NA panels planted ideas that only became useful later, showing seeds of recovery can take time to grow.
- A long‑term treatment stay and a simple hug from a sober friend helped him choose recovery for himself rather than just because of circumstances.
- Sticking with meetings, work and amends allowed him to rebuild family trust and become part of running a recovery community at Mindset Recovery.
“"My life here in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous is completely a living amends."”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This episode of Dopey puts that question front and centre with a wild mix of meth-fuelled chaos, prison drops and raw family redemption, all told with the show’s trademark dark humour. Guest Garrett McClendon grows up in the Antelope Valley with a mum addicted to speed and a childhood spent in dope houses and desert junkyards.
He shares outrageous stories like smoking meth and stealing pigs with his mum, trading a half‑gram for a beat‑up Toyota Celica, and organising elaborate drug “drops” into prison using fence‑jumpers, trash cans and carefully packed plugs. At one point, his “goal in life was just to be able to do a drop inside prison,” a line that says everything about how small addiction can make your world.
It’s not just meth, either: Garrett moves on to shooting goofballs (heroin and meth together), crashing cars while living on Whoppers and bear claws, and racking up 168 traffic tickets and multiple DUIs with “one and a half teeth” left in his mouth. Yet alongside the madness, you’ll hear how prison gave him routine, food and sleep, and how early AA and NA panels started to plant ideas he wasn’t ready to use yet.
The emotional turn comes when parole sends him to a 17‑month treatment programme. A hug from his mate Levi and a counsellor who tells him, “Motherfucker, you ain’t no badass,” become pivotal moments. Garrett gets sober, finds a home group, rebuilds his relationship with his dad and daughter, and eventually helps run Mindset Recovery in Van Nuys — all while still working his day job in construction.
If you’re into darkly funny, brutally honest recovery stories that don’t shy away from the worst bits, this one’s for you. What parts of Garrett’s journey hit closest to home for you?
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