Is Diet Coke Poisonous? Plus The Wild Life and Tragic Death of Ryan Leone Part 2 | Injected 60 Hits of LSD, Crack, Fentanyl, Tommy Lee | Dopey's Greatest HitsIs Diet Coke Poisonous? Plus The Wild Life and Tragic Death of Ryan Leone Part 2 | Injected 60 Hits of LSD, Crack, Fentanyl, Tommy Lee | Dopey's Greatest Hits
Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction
Timestamps 1:08 Remembering Ryan Leone on his birthday 3:35 SafeSpot, recovery and Dave’s Diet Coke crisis 7:12 Comments on “Ghosts of ChrisMiss Past” 10:33 Remembering DJ and the people lost to addiction 11:34 DopeyCon tickets and Patreon 12:53 Introducing Ryan Leone’s second Dopey appearance 14:05 Ryan’s book and a DMT-filled party bus 15:15 What happened after Ryan’s first Dopey appearance? 16:38 A free gram of cocaine before visiting Tommy Lee 18:48 The relapse begins immediately 20:06 Finding acceptance inside an LA party scene 21:17 Cocaine turns into a crack relapse 23:38 Ketamine, depression and injecting drugs 26:02 Steroids, crack and preparing for a Vanity Fair photograph 28:26 Ryan begins treating himself with ketamine 29:40 The liquid LSD supply 33:09 Johnny Depp and Hunter S. Thompson’s cigarette holder 34:11 Confusing the ketamine and LSD vials 35:21 Accidentally injecting approximately 60 hits of LSD 37:45 Driving through California while hallucinating 40:11 Imaginary passengers, a dead body and the teepee motel 42:10 Meth, hospitalization and the end of Ryan’s relationship 44:18 Returning to heroin after becoming suicidal 46:44 A four-month heroin relapse 48:44 Abscesses and the progression to fentanyl 51:07 Is fentanyl being mixed into black-tar heroin? 53:22 How fentanyl felt different from heroin 55:13 Overdosing and being revived with Narcan 57:40 Ryan’s father finally draws a boundary 59:55 Fighting naked while withdrawing inside a detox 1:04:47 Passing out from fentanyl in front of his family 1:05:58 The threat of losing his children 1:07:08 Becoming trapped inside the outlaw-writer persona 1:10:46 Real experiences versus manufactured crime stories 1:13:10 When Ryan’s public character took over his real life 1:15:35 Writing Antiheroes while addicted to heroin 1:17:58 Does heroin make Ryan more creative? 1:20:17 Ryan’s documentary and years of recorded chaos 1:22:43 Addiction’s destruction of the entire family 1:25:40 Josh Brolin’s sobriety message 1:27:44 Fame, insecurity and Ryan’s larger-than-life personality 1:30:05 Finally understanding powerlessness 1:32:33 Ryan considers giving AA a real chance 1:34:54 Dave and Ryan say goodbye 1:35:21 “Good So Bad”
1:37:41•6 Aug 2026
Dark Laughs, Deadly Relapses and Remembering Ryan Leone
Episode Overview
- Recovery is described as possible for everyone when consistent effort is put in, with the promise of a fun and meaningful sober life.
- Fentanyl use is portrayed as far more addictive and unpredictable than heroin, with overdoses and Narcan not always reliably reversing its effects.
- Accidental high‑dose psychedelic use (such as injecting 60 hits of LSD) can lead to dangerous behaviour, hospitalisation and long‑term cognitive fallout.
- Active addiction is shown to devastate partners, children and parents, sometimes prompting ultimatums that become turning points toward change.
- Accepting genuine powerlessness over drugs is presented as a key step that can open the door to structured help like detox, methadone and 12‑step support.
“All you have to do is like put some fucking effort in and you can get sober and you can have fun and have an amazing, amazing life.”
Between jokes about being “calloused from all the grief” and a running gag about Diet Coke possibly wrecking his brain, Dave reminds anyone struggling that “recovery [is] possible for everybody… all you have to do is like put some fucking effort in and you can get sober and you can have fun and have an amazing, amazing life.” You’ll hear a quick detour into a neurology study linking artificial sweeteners and cognitive decline, plus shout-outs to Safespot for harm reduction support and to DopeyCon, Patreon, and the ever‑present sticker obsession.
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol and drugs when chaos has always been the default? This episode of Dopey leans hard into that question by mixing sharp humour with some of the bleakest stories you’ll hear. Dave starts by honouring writer and longtime Dopey favourite Ryan Leone on his birthday, reflecting on his death in 2022 and the grieving summers that have marked the podcast’s history.
Dave also reads moving listener comments about episodes featuring Chris and DJ, using their stories as cautionary tales and heartfelt memorials. The bulk of the show is a replay of Ryan Leone’s second Dopey appearance, framed as one of the greatest episodes ever.
Ryan walks through an 18‑month descent: a “free gram of coke” before visiting Tommy Lee, a brutal crack relapse, steroid cycles, ketamine injections for depression, accidentally injecting 60 hits of liquid LSD, and finally heroin and fentanyl use that led to overdoses, hospital stays, and nearly losing his family. Along the way he talks about writing antiheroes, the pressure of his outlaw‑writer image, and slowly accepting the reality of powerlessness over drugs.
It’s dark, often very funny, and completely unvarnished—perfect if you want stories that show just how bad it can get, but also why it’s worth fighting to stay alive and sober. Where do you see your own line between chaos and recovery?
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