Within months of his first go around with Vikes he knew he needed more.  Later a shady Doc gave him a prescription for 240 Norco a month and he managed to use that in two weeks.  He knew he was out of control and it went on for another seven years.  He graduated to oxy somewhere in that time span and had to hustle to manage enough of it to avoid getting sick at $80 a pill.  Stealing, “borrowing” from friends and hocking valuables became a way of life.  He needed to get off the merry-go-round and promised himself every day for the last three years he used that the pills he took that day would be his last.   Join us this Sunday to talk to Dan about how he finally got to his last pill.

She finally got sober in her home area of South Bay.  She went to somewhere around 700 meetings in the two years that she slipped, slid and hid her drinking before she found solid ground.  Weathering the shame and embarrassment she continued to “keep coming back”.  After a beautiful sober retreat weekend with her sponsor she went home and got loaded.  Scared and unable to stand her husband’s disgust she asked a treatment doc for Antabuse.  She came to realize that she had lost the power of choice and had no control over her drinking.  Join us this Sunday to hear Cathy tell her story of perseverance and recovery.

We’ve had a couple years now to allow the drug court process to mature.  We’ve had several “graduating classes” and a very good track record.  We talked to the initial sitting drug court judge to get the framework of the court’s operations so now, let’s talk to several recent drug court participants and hear their stories from the inside.  Join us this Sunday evening as we speak to Dan and Kurt and one of their biggest supporters, Blu.

More than a few years ago a small group of parents began to meet in a therapists office.  They talked about their struggles to stay sane while living with the insanity of their behaviorally or addictively challenged kids.  They shared their fears, their shame, their struggles with difficult decisions and their small victories over staying out of the destructive vortex.  Some of these folks started their own self-directed support group for parents and it has grown exponentially.  Meet Marcia, Jeff and Beth to talk about the desperate need for parent support and recovery.

You could call our show this week a love story of sorts.  Mary and her husband adopted a beautiful baby girl they named Kellen at 8 days and although her childhood was in some ways idyllic she started “cutting” by 6th grade.  By college there were serious alcohol and relationship problems that resulted in the early termination of her college career and a stint in rehab.  A medical evaluation revealed that Kellen had been a a crack baby before there was such a designation.  A relapse and a near-fatal car accident resulted in her sobriety since 06.   Her Mom would say she been from elation to hell and back.

Ibogaine is an extract from an African plant.  It produces a number of effects that we’ll find out about tonight but among them is the elimination, for most clients, of cravings and even desire for addictive substances.  Ibogaine came into mainstream view in the last decade  through its use as an alternative to largely unsuccessful attempts to help heroin addicts.  The drug and its use are banned in the US but unscheduled in other countries including Mexico and Canada.  We’ll talk tonight to Dr. Martin Polanco the founder of Crossroads Clinic Treatment Center and colleague, Recovery Coach, Deanne Adamson.

Meet one of the most alive and articulate guys around.  Father Jerome is a well-known and well-loved Catholic Priest.  He’s full of contradictions; gregarious, gentle, caring, opinionated, humble and strong.  Join us as we cover his own struggle with addiction; his recovery process and how he blends his religion with his recovery.

She went to church, got good grades, was popular and funny but…her Mom was a “full blown alcoholic” and her Dad had an anger management problem.  Ann would say her family lived lives of “quiet desperation”.  She was always the first to start drinking and the last to stop.  She had her first “honest” drunk at 14.  Her management of her drinking during her first pregnancy brought up feelings that funneled her into Adult Children of Alcoholics groups.  They helped her but the drinking caught up some years later and she found AA.  After a lengthy AA vacation and an emotional nosedive she found her way back to serenity.

Tonight’s show is an unusual opportunity to look inside the world of young people; a glimpse into how kids experience life.  Our panel will be composed of high school aged people who are not actively involved with the drug culture.  They may be able to give us some perspective on what parents should be concerned with and what is hype.  They may be able to give us some perspective on today’s “normal.  Our goal is to confront the “everybody does it” myth with a real view of teen life and to honor those kids who value healthy, “normal” living.

He grew up in the City.  It wasn’t easy.  His first run at sobriety was at the Northwest Edge Alano club but between not being ready and the “marijuana maintenance program” it didn’t last long.  His second run was after the fateful “three point turn DUI” in Champaign Illinois.  With tragic losses in and out of sobriety Johnny is a miracle.  Join us this week for a story of tragedy and transformation.