Skip to content
Dopey’s Greatest HitsExplicit

Jessica Kent's First Episode! Gave Birth in Prison Chains: Journey from Heroin Dealer to Mom Dopey's Greatest Hits

· 1 hr 59 min

Dopey’s Greatest Hits episode art

Show notes

This week on “Dopey’s Greatest Hits” replay of episode 240 with Jessica Kent (prison YouTuber and recovering addict), recorded during the early pandemic from Dave’s attic. Dave opens with current (2020-era) updates: promoting an upcoming Dopey Wood 2 comedy show in LA (featuring Marc Maron, Bobby Lee, Margaret Cho, etc.), the Dopey Foundation, Patreon perks, free Narcan/test strips offers, and the ongoing Dopey sticker contest. He reads recent Spotify comments praising/recapping previous episodes (Brace Belden, nitrous stories, etc.), plays a listener voicemail about teenage nitrous abuse, then transitions into the main replay.

The core interview covers Jessica Kent’s life: early alcohol/pill use starting at ~12–13 in upstate New York, progression to IV heroin at 17, selling drugs (weed → heroin → meth), magazine subscription sales crews while on the run, $30k+ dealer debts, robberies by partners, running from charges, accidental meth introduction in Arkansas, pregnancy and arrest (3 weeks pregnant, 2 oz meth + gun charge), giving birth in prison while in leg chains, fighting for custody of her daughter Micah post-release, white-knuckle sobriety driven by DHS requirements/hair-follicle tests, eventual full custody, and building a new life (YouTube, podcast, degree). She describes prison violence (fights over petty things like 50¢ pizza sauce, beating a child sex offender), disdain for 12-step culture in her experience, identity crisis after getting clean, and how motherhood became her anchor (not 12 steps or traditional recovery programs).

Dave closes with his father (the recurring “sweet father” segment) reading iTunes reviews, kvelling over rankings, discussing privilege critiques, financial responsibility in recovery, and playing Bob Forrest’s “Comfortably Numb” cover + “Good So Bad” to end.

ALL THAT MORE MORE MORE on the newest Old replay episode of that good old dopey show…

Real talk

Need help right now?

Jokes aside. If you or someone you love is in trouble, these people pick up the phone.

  • 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

    988

    Call or text 988, any time, for free and confidential support in a crisis.

  • SAMHSA National Helpline

    1-800-662-4357

    Free, confidential treatment referral and information, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

  • Safe Spot Hotline

    1-800-972-0590

    Using alone and afraid of overdosing? Call them. Staffed by people with lived and living experience with overdose and drug use.