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March 12, 2024 19 mins
STEFFAN TUBBS IS BACK FOR A VISIT ON HIS NEW DOCUMENTARY And this one is a gut puncher. It's called Devastated: Colorado's Fentanyl Disaster and you should watch the trailer.

He's got a new job now with the DEA so we recorded an interview I'll play today. It's powerful stuff. The movie comes out May 15th and I'll let you know how you can see the full film soon.
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Episode Transcript

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(00:00):
Yesterday I got a chance to catchup with my longtime friend Stephan Tubbs.
He's got a real job now workingfor the DEA, so he can't come
in in the middle of the day, but we managed to record a fantastic
interview that I'm going to play foryou now. My next guest is a
familiar voice to many of you hereat KOA, where he was a longtime
morning man before moving over to KNUSwhere now he's left the radio field entirely,

(00:25):
but it's still making incredible documentaries.I say he's prolific. But Stephan
Tubbs is more modest as we talkabout his tenth documentary, this one Devastated
Colorado's fentanyl disaster, is coming outwhen Stephan Tubbs, Welcome to the show.
By the way, thank you,and it's so nice to be back
in a familiar, you know,kind of place on the radio dial.

(00:47):
Now I want to get back intoradio. No, I'm kidding, well,
this space is taking Yeah, listen, you are one of my great
friends in radio, and you aresuch a talent and those of you listening
you are lucky to have the airwavesgraced by Mandy Connell. Monday through Friday
and I mean that. And you'venever lost sight, Mandy of the importance

(01:10):
of focusing on our own backyard,right, and that is what we're doing
with this film, Devastated Colorado's fentanylDisaster. The fact of the matter is,
we are looking at unprecedented numbers,record setting numbers across the country with
those killed poisoned to death by fentanyl. And this has been on my mind

(01:33):
for a couple of years. Wegot the production started last summer. We
wrapped in late fall, and thefilm. To answer your question, the
film comes out May fifteenth, willbe our first premiere. We are going
to have multiple premieres around the statelooking at the deadly impact of fentanyl on
the centennial state. So what inspiredthis particular subject for you? And I

(01:55):
know you're a newsman at heart,right, You're a news hound at heart,
and so was it just the overwhelmingnumbers? Was one particular story?
What inspired this to be the nextsubject of your next documentary? Yeah?
All of the above, right,I mean, you know, being you
know, a longtime newsman, Ithink I still feel like I'm a newsman
today, but doing talk radio andseeing the numbers that come out, you

(02:21):
know, it used to be whensay DEEA made an announcement years ago,
were they seized or it seized twentyplus million fentanyl pills. That was a
big deal. That number was morethan seventy seven million last year. And
it's only getting you know, inmy opinion, it's only going to get
worse before it even tapers offer orgets better. But the big thing about

(02:45):
wanting to focus on Colorado was thefact that you know, over the last
couple of years, especially my lasttwo years at KNUS and doing talk is
we had the format to talk tothese parents who lost their children in the
stated Colorado's fentanyl disaster. We talkwith families of nearly a dozen. These

(03:06):
are kids, they're kids. They'reyounger than you and me, so therefore
their kids and the youngest fourteen inour film, you know, the oldest
was a woman with her own childin her young thirties. But it's in
every neighborhood in Colorado. People maylisten and go not in my neighborhood.

(03:28):
Well think again. You know,not too long ago, you had you
know, the acting Special Agent incharge of DEA on your program, and
he talked about with you the presenceof cartels. It is pervasive in Colorado.
It's something Mandy that in putting thisfilm together, I certainly have found
a lot of people don't want totalk about And when people don't want to

(03:51):
talk about it, people like youand me, that's when we hop on
board, and that's when we shinea spot light on it. So don't
you think that there is still astigma in certain you know, well healed
circles that if someone dies of adrug overdose, well they were a drug
addict, and not that they deservedit. But what did you really expect
because these and I think that ispart of what you're talking about with people

(04:14):
not wanting to admit that it's ahigh school student who buys a xanax that
isn't a xanax. You, Imean, you're spot on the issue I
think today is still and I hatethe honestly, I hate the word stigma
because those of us in media,we've used it, but you know what
it fits. I have. Ihave example after example of people not wanting

(04:40):
to talk about it. I think, because no, that really sucks for
other families, but you know,not in my circle, this would never
happen. Well guess what then?You know tomorrow happens and there all of
a sudden in the mix. It'sprobably no surprise that there were several politicians
that did not want to take partin this film. There are several politicians

(05:01):
who wanted to and and well,I'll just give you a guess as to
political affiliation. The fact is rightnow, the Colorado State legislature, at
top to bottom, the state governmentis controlled by one party. And when
one party has a little bit differentof a feel, so to speak,
and to me is a lot.It's a big issue. You know,

(05:25):
it's interesting to see who will orwould and would not participate. But be
damned, this film comes out andour goal, my production company, Mountain
Time Media, our goal, Mandy, is to punch this state in the
nose and say, look, we'vepunched you. Don't sue us, but
we've punched you. We've given you, you know, we've given you this

(05:46):
information. What are you going todo with at Colorado? What are you
going to do with it? Becausewhether you look, whether you look at
the problem directly, or you buryyour head in the sands, so to
speak, guess what another three fourfive Colorado's will die today tomorrow the next
day of a drug overdose. Youknow, the frustrating thing for me in
this last legislative session, the sessionhas been watching the tension between and I'm

(06:13):
gonna say, you know, theharm reduction advocates who say, well,
we can't arrest people, we can'trefelonize fentonal you know, possession, But
at the same time they're essentially saying, we're just going to allow these people
to just probably possibly die at anymoment because the flow of illegal drugs is
not monitored, it's not checked,there's no quality assurance controls on illegal drugs,

(06:39):
and that seems like the most inhumaneanswer when if the other answer is
throw someone in prison or jail andmaybe give them the opportunity to maybe find
their way out of addiction. Itdoesn't make any sense to me. And
I was wondering, did you likefind out anything or or or discover anything
that would that would give a betterexplanation for that I wish friend, the

(07:05):
answer was absolutely, That's why folks, you need to watch the film.
No, we didn't get we didn'tget the answers to those questions they were
posed. I mean, I hadI have a text still from the Mayor
of Denver Mike Johnston, who said, yeah, all have my in so

(07:25):
many words, you all have mystaff set up our interview. That never
happened. The guy ghosted me.And I've known him for years. I
know you talk with him at leastonce a month, and I mean,
I'm not going to tell you whatto ask him, but I want to
know why all of a sudden youwent, you know, you went dark.
The same with Governor Polos. I'veknown for damn near twenty years.
You know, I'm thinking, well, you know I'm going to get an

(07:46):
interview with him. Well I finallyget an interview or an email request from
my interview request to them, aresponse that said, we don't normally do
documentary films. Well, okay,that's fine, but if you know you
got another mainstream media request, youprobably would grant that. Maybe it's that
you're staying away from fentanyl. Theparents Mandy in this film are furious at

(08:11):
everyone, right, They're furious atanybody elected because they just feel like nothing's
being done, or not enough isbeing done. But it is a pointed
look in you know, less thanninety minutes that this film runs. They're
very upset at the governor they're upsetat the take from the left that seemingly
is you know, as one ofthe lawmakers in the film told us,

(08:35):
it's like, you know the criminals, here are the victims and everything what's
up is down, and what's downis up, and it's backwards. And
at the end of the day,Mandy, what matters to me as a
filmmaker, and what matters to theseparents most of all is they will never
have a chance again to have atalk with their kids that you know,

(08:56):
there's the danger of fentanyl. They'llnever have a chance to talk with a
politician and try to convince him orher that they need to go this way
to save their kid. But theseparents want to save other Colorado families,
in particular the agony that they notonly went through, but that they go
through every day because every day theyare here and their loved one is not

(09:16):
here, it's a day of loss. What is the you know, in
a perfect world, what do youhope to accomplish with this film? I
mean, if you could waive theStephan Tubbs magic wand after people see this
documentary, what would you do?It's almost always the same, right,
what's the call to action? Iwant people to do something. If that

(09:39):
is for the first time, sendingan email to someone that you know is
quote unquote representing you in the ColoradoState legislature. You know, we all
all talk about, you know,take action, do something, reach out.
I want people to take this film, see it, get fire up

(10:01):
and actually see the problem and seethat this is not insurmountable. But right
now, with the laws the waythey are, with one to four grams
potentially being as as representative Mike Lynchsays in the film, you know,
if you meet certain criteria, that'sa ticket. I mean four g you
know, three point eight grams offentanyl is going to kill damn near two

(10:24):
thousand people. And Mandy, thisis coming in every day. Kids are
being targeted. They're branding this asskittles, their colored pills. It's a
poison out there. And I'm justyou know, I'm just grateful to friends
like you that'll let me get themessage out there. Watch the film,
share it. Is it going toruffle some feathers, of course, but

(10:46):
isn't that what we do? Sohow can people see the film? Where
is it airing or are we havinga premiere? Can they see it online?
Where can they get it? Thepremiere is coming up May fifteenth,
and then we will have multiple premierearound the state of Colorado, absolutely free
of charge. Our goal, ifwe had our magic wand would be this

(11:07):
needs to be shown at minimum inevery single high school classroom in this state.
Is there some profanity? Yes,we can bleep that out for high
school you know, are you kiddingme? Have you been to a high
school recently? You don't need tobleep anything out recently. But I could
just tell But that's actually a greatquick point to bring up. I could

(11:30):
see that, well, we wouldshow this in filling the blank high school
and fill in the blank county andfill in the blank Colorado. But you
know we hear the F word,so we can't. So I want to
make it very friendly for those Butthis topic, I'm telling you, Mandy,
as sure as a summarize tomorrow,this film has the potential to make
one Colorado family go, holy crap, wait a minute, we better have

(11:54):
that talk. And I say thisall the time, friend, families,
you would rather have the talk aboutfentanyl and have it be as tough as
maybe the birds and the bees,if not more. You'd rather have that
tough talk than plan your loved one'sfuneral. And isn't that isn't that The
thing that makes this so insidious,Stefan, is that you know, when
you and I were young and wedid dumb stuff and we bought booze or

(12:18):
whatever it was we did when wewere kids, that was that was against
the law. Right now, akid just thinks, oh, I'm gonna
buy a xanax or I'm gonna buythis, or I'm gonna buy that,
and this drug is in everything,and they can't they can't know if what
they're getting is what they think they'regetting. And it's these are truly kids
making a dumb choice, but notkids making a fatal choice. And yet

(12:41):
they are. And you know,back to our days, we could maybe
try to convince somebody twenty one orolder to go buy us a bottle at
boons farm. It wasn't going tokill us. It wasn't going people that
can hear people make the argument,well, if you drank the whole bottle
of Boone's Farm at sixteen and yougot behind the wheel, But see there's
another action for that. You drinkand then get behind the wheel or do

(13:03):
something stupid like that. With thissituation, it is half a pill and
die, one try and die.As one of the recovering drug addicts tell
us in the film, this isRussian Roulette with six bullets in the chamber.
I'll leave you with this. Itused to be just a couple three
years ago that the DEA's lab testedfour out of every ten illicit pills,

(13:28):
four out of every ten contained apotential fatal dose of fentanyl. Today,
less than three years later, thatnumber is now seven in ten. Seventy
percent of all pills out there haveat least a potential fatal dose. It
is one try and die, andyou know, I'm going to go to

(13:50):
my deathbed trying to make sure thatpeople hear this message. And it would
blow you away, Mandy, ifI could tell you how many times people
are like ohel, yeah, Iguess I heard about that. Now,
this film, this film will hityou in the face and it's something that
I hope, especially every Colorado parentcan see and maybe save their own disaster

(14:13):
from happening. Well, the trailerin and of itself is powerful. It's
on the blog today at mandy'sblog dotcom, so you can go watch the
trailer and then Stefan will have youpop on again before the premieres to give
people an idea of where they cansee it or if they'd like to petition
their school district to bring it intotheir high schools, because I think that's
the way it's probably going to needto happen, is that parents are going

(14:33):
to need to go to their schooldistrict. I know I'm going to go
to Duggo and say, what dowe need to do to get this into
the high schools? Because this isso stupid. This is such a dumb
anecdote. But in seventh grade,so this was nineteen seventy nine ish,
somewhere in there, no. Nineteeneighty one, we had watched this movie
which I actually found it online.It's the cheesiest movie you've ever seen in

(14:56):
your life. It's called something likeCold Turkey or something like that. In
this movie, we had watched someonecoming off Heroin, and I kid you
not not that I've ever been likesuper prone to you know, going out
and drying wild stuff, but thatmovie, that single experience, I was
like, oh, hell no,I'm never doing that. That would terrible.
So it scared you and it leftthat mark look I mean, you

(15:18):
know, sorry, sister, butyou know nineteen eighty one is just a
few years ago for you with me, right, but at the same time,
it stuck with you. I'm notsaying that devastated Colorado's Fentnyl disaster will
have that impact, but you knowwhat it might, and that's why you're
doing what you're doing. Seven tubs. I love your friend, Love your
friend. Thank you. All right, You're gonna be able to see that

(15:39):
movie in May, and I toldStephan that when the premieres are coming up,
I will have him back on sowe can talk about you know,
where you can see it. Iam personally going to reach out to Douglas
County schools after I see it andsay we need to get this in front
of students, because you know thatthe sound part about this And if you

(16:00):
have not watched the trailer, it'son the blog today at mandy'sblog dot com,
and it is it's kids who thinkthey're buying a xanax and they take
half of it and it kills them. And I don't know if you remember
what it's like to be a kidand when you you don't ever think about
your own potential death. It isnot something that a normal teenager. You

(16:22):
don't think about the possibilities when you'redoing dumb stuff as a teenager. Otherwise
we wouldn't do so much dumb stuffas a teenager. Do you ever look
back at your teen years a rodand think about something like, oh my
god, I cannot believe that wethought that was a good idea. Oh
yeah, you know what that Ithink about. Example, Oh, I've
got one for me that I thinkabout all the time. So one of

(16:45):
my friends in high school had likea nineteen eighty one, one of those
big blazers, a Chevy Blazer,and we would take the hard top off
of it so it was basically openin the back and we would put like
eight kids in the blazer and wewould go to this dirt road that was
near my house that for the firstlike i don't know, third of a
mile, was super smooth, butthen it was just a roller coaster after

(17:07):
that, so if you were goingfast enough, you essentially were just hitting
the top of the bumps. Andthe game that we were playing was try
not to get thrown out of thetruck, and we did that on a
regular basis. I feel less dumbnow I'm telling you, I look back
and I'm thinking to myself, howare we all walking and talking and not

(17:27):
paralyzed or dead. It's been awhile since I've looked at it. It's
how the scars almost completely gone.We did in school, probably high school
eraser burns. We would just takethe eraser and like, can you make
the coolest, biggest eraser on yourskin and leave? But you're not gonna
kill yourself with that, you know. But but kids don't think about the
possibility of them dying. They justdon't think about it. And somebody hit

(17:51):
the text line while Stephan was talkingand said, uh, Mandy, kids
know, why do they still doit? Because they don't think it's gonna
happen to them. That's the kicker. It happens to someone else. In
their minds. They think that theyare too smart, too savvy. They
know the person they're getting their drugsfrom, they know who they are.

(18:15):
They trust them because they're friends oftheirs, not even bothering to ask,
well where are they getting their drugs? You know? And so to assume
that your kid is going to beimmune, to assume that your child is
not going to make a really dumbmistake is a dangerous, horrible assumption.
And this is one of the things. I've been talking to my daughter about

(18:37):
this stuff for so long that sheis probably sick of hearing about it.
But you know, back in theeighties, you could do dumb stuff and
experiment with drugs and not die doingit once. And now that's what's happening.
I mean, we have kids whohave never experimented with drugs before,
and their first time they get somethingwith fentanel and it kills them. You

(19:00):
know that the price for experimentation shouldnot be deaf. But the only way
to stop it is to let yourkids know that, yes, this can
happen to you because there is noquality control in the illegal drug trade.
There's none of that, you know. I've tried to empower my kid to
not just make good decisions, andplease God, I'm not saying she will

(19:22):
always make good decisions, because myego is not that big as a parent.
But I've also said I want youto advocate to your friends. If
you find out your friends are doingthis, I want you to be the
one to say, you know,if you get one of those pills,
it could kill you, and youwon't know until you're dead, and that's
the point of the movie. Andagain when you can watch it when it's

(19:44):
out, I will let you knowhow to see this film because I think
it's going to be incredibly important filmfor us all to see

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