EPISODE · Feb 26, 2026 · 2H 21M
Dopey's Greatest Hits: Brace Belden First Dopey - Why is Meth so Popular in California? Truanon, Heroin, Syria, San Francisco, Recovery
from Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction · host Dave & Chris
Listen without ads here: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast Tickets for Dopeywood 2: https://www.showclix.com/event/dopeywood-2026 This week on Dopey's Greatest Hits! Brace Belden's first episode (Patreon poll winner). We share Ray Brown's "Home Sweet Heroin" parody origin (Nikki Sixx drama), Dopey music history (UltiScrub, Good So Bad, Fentanyl J, Damon), and teases the NEW Spotify page. Plays old voicemails: Matt Wiedemeier Carroll (Waiting for Tonight 5-year anniversary, 117 days sober) and Kimber King (ketamine freakout, 20 months sober). Reads Spotify comments on Fentanyl Jay ep (love/hate, prison update, negative "murderer" email). Eric Poppismurff responds (benzo info, resources). Then the highlights of Brace: a raw, wide-ranging conversation with Brace (punk rocker, communist, podcaster of TrueAnon, heroin/meth addict in recovery). Brace opens up about his life: early punk obsession (Black Sabbath to Ramones/Misfits at 12), first drug use (salvia at 11–12, hill fire/arrest, weed soon after), mom's suicide at 6 (coke addict, depression), compartmentalization as coping mechanism. Teen years in continuation school (smoking allowed, flower shop credits), first opiates (Vicodin/Percocet at 17), OxyContin discovery after moving out, transition to heroin in Tenderloin ($10 high), Dr. Z dealer (SRO, pigeon shooting, jail), Jacques (MS heroin dealer), stealing from flower shops/girlfriend, arrest for $9 meth buy, rehab cycles, basement apartment gutter snipes/clonidine kick. Later Syrian resistance (2015–2016, 7 months fighting ISIS with Kurds, no opiates there, ketamine for wounds), return (lied to everyone), brewery job/union campaign, TrueAnon start (2019), ongoing sleep struggle (melatonin bullshit, trazodone dreams, Benadryl suggestion). All that and tons and tons more on a brand new episode of that good old dopey show! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Timestamp Notes (approximate, based on transcript flow — total ~30m): 00:14 – Cold open: “Home Sweet Heroin” parody 02:24 – Dave intro: Greatest Hits + Patreon poll (Brace wins) 06:20 – Fentanyl Jay jail update 07:45 – Classic voicemail: Matt Carroll sober anniversary 09:45 – Kimber King ketamine voicemail 12:10 – Spotify comments + hate mail 16:37 – Benzo withdrawal email (benzoinfo.org) 19:30 – Replay begins: Brace Belden (TrueAnon) 21:20 – Punk roots / politics vs identity 25:54 – Communism, class & capitalism 33:00 – First drugs: salvia, fireworks arrest 37:36 – Mom’s addiction & suicide 44:34 – Oxy → heroin progression 53:41 – Punk band War Crime & shock tactics 56:08 – Dealer “Dr. Z” & Tenderloin dope life 01:03:40 – Price spike → full heroin addiction 01:07:19 – Lou Reed debate: heroin vs speed brains 01:08:00 – “Do every drug in a week” experiment (Maximum Rocknroll) 01:09:40 – Poppers, whippets & West Coast tweaker theory 01:11:52 – First time smoking heroin in Tenderloin 01:13:40 – First time shooting heroin 01:16:30 – Punk junkie mythology & denial 01:18:50 – Crime begins: stealing from flower shop 01:21:13 – LA dope buy gone wrong / police intervention 01:25:57 – Stealing girlfriend’s debit card / bottom drops out 01:30:26 – Meth, no sex, full spiral 01:34:50 – Ripping off dealers / getting pistol-whipped 01:37:05 – Making amends to dealer who cried 01:39:29 – Arrest for meth → diversion program 01:44:00 – Selling record collection to survive 01:48:37 – Detox cycles / sober living / total collapse 01:55:28 – Windowless basement detox / cigarette butts / surrender 02:00:13 – Early sobriety: coffee, meetings, no money 02:02:37 – Identity collapse / growing up at 24 02:04:58 – Joining Kurdish forces in Syria 02:07:09 – War reality vs fantasy 02:11:58 – Returning home / disconnection 02:14:20 – AA fellowship & structure 02:16:48 – Insomnia talk 02:18:40 – Safe Spot plug + customstickers.com 02:19:30 – “I Wanna Be Good So Bad” 02:21:08 – Toodles for Chris
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Dopey's Greatest Hits: Brace Belden First Dopey - Why is Meth so Popular in California? Truanon, Heroin, Syria, San Francisco, Recovery
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