Kevin Rosario began using drugs and alcohol when he was just 13 years old. Before long, he was selling drugs to pay for his habit, getting into trouble with the law and finding himself in and out of rehab. During all of this, he came close to losing his life in a violent incident. Listen as he shares the details of what led him down this path, why he considers the substances to be secondary and what he believes are the most effective ways for parents and kids to make healthy choices.

Cameron and Hunter Flores are brothers who, coincidentally, both began dabbling in alcohol and marijuana at 13 years old. Little did they know this seemingly harmless recreational use would lead them on parallel paths to full-blown, long-term addiction to opioids, meth, heroin, cocaine, crack and other illicit substances. 

They were in and out of rehab, had brushes with the law and survived life-threatening situations. Remarkably, they were both able to become sober after these experiences and are eager to share their stories as a hopeful and cautionary tale for parents and young people alike.

Aileen Walsh and Liz Miller hold positions that represent the creative solutions towns are coming up with to meet a growing demand for mental health intervention services. Aileen is the Community Crisis Response Clinician and works for the Police Department. 

Her role is to go out on calls with patrol officers to assist with psychiatric and behavioral emergencies in the field.  She provides initial intervention services to individuals in need and follows up with crisis case management, mental health, substance abuse and victim assistance referrals, and short-term crisis counseling as needed. 

Liz is the social worker for the Health Department and also administers the State's Opioid Abatement Funds as the substance-abuse program coordinator. Both women draw upon their personal experiences and use them in their line of work.

As a result, they bring a tremendous amount of empathy and compassion to their jobs. Learn more about their unique and important roles as well as their inspirational personal stories.

Rory and Chris Earley both grew up in homes with alcoholic parents. When they got married and started their own family, they thought about ways in which they would do things differently in raising their own children. Rory is sober, and Chris drinks on occasion. But it is more than just about examining their relationship with alcohol. "We're all about a boring household," says Chris. "It's a simple home. It's the healthiest environment that we can manufacture." Listen to Rory and Chris talk about their upbringings, the ways in which it impacted their lives and how they came together to create something new.

From a young age, Senator Patrick O'Connor has been passionate about public service, so it is only natural that he would serve his community as an elected official. For the past eight years, he has worked with his constituents and his colleagues on Beacon Hill to address various public health issues, like the opioid crisis. 

His experiences living and learning overseas guide his collaborative approach, and the people he has known who have struggled with the disease add an element of personal passion to the cause. Tune in to hear Sen. O'Connor talk about the legislative process and current efforts being made to combat substance use disorder.

Kathleen Mahoney has an enormous territory and a huge responsibility serving as a Nicotine Compliance Officer for several towns on the South Shore of Massachusetts. She must stay on top of state law and local regulations for each community and ensure that retailers are not in violation. One of her primary tasks is to make sure youth are not given access to age-restricted products. The landscape is constantly changing, and new products are regularly being introduced to the marketplace. Kathleen discusses changes she has seen, current trends and ways parents can keep their children safe around knock-off products.

In 2017, Hingham resident Lori McCarthy co-founded the Herren Wellness Center in Seekonk with acclaimed speaker and former basketball star Chris Herren. Both of them are in recovery from substance use, and their mission was to provide a holistic service that would positively impact the lives of individuals and their families. Lori talks about the process of getting the center opened, describes her own personal journey of recovery and stresses the importance of encouraging young people to abstain from using substances.

Roger Oser has been the principal of the William J. Ostiguy High School in Boston for the past 17 years, incorporating his extensive background working with youth to his role. Ostiguy High is a recovery high school that was founded by Willie Ostiguy, who is a previous guest on this podcast. The school provides a safe and supportive school environment for young people who want to make a positive change in their relationship with drugs and alcohol.

The school works closely with school districts to provide a variety of interventions for students who are struggling. The landscape of addiction is always changing, once it was opioids and now it is marijuana, but the need remains the same. Roger and the rest of the staff at Ostiguy High work hard to help young people achieve their goals and guide them on the right track for a bright and healthy future.

Chris Herren is known for playing in the NBA for teams like the Boston Celtics, but he was a basketball phenom starting at a young age. Chris broke records; he had a book written about him when he was just 16; and he attended Boston College on a full scholarship. However, all of that success was taken away by an addiction that plagued him from his teen years when he drank "the beer he never wanted" at 14 years old.

Drugs and alcohol threatened to destroy Chris' life and harm the ones he loved most. He said he worked really hard to keep his addiction a secret, and he would watch his kids play with toys on the floor while he "took a chance at dying every day." Eventually he realized that he had a problem that needed to be addressed. He sought treatment while his wife was pregnant with their third child and living on food stamps, and it was then that his life turned around.

Not only is Chris now a person who has successfully maintained his recovery for over 15 years, but he also speaks across the country to hundreds of schools each year and runs a program designed to prevent others from going down the same path of destruction. Herren Wellness has been open since 2018 and provides treatment for people battling addiction to drugs and alcohol. Their unique approach seeks to help people understand the "why" of their substance use so that they can fully address it in their lives. Tune into this honest and heartfelt interview.

Genny Soper lost her son one night in what she calls "an accident that was completely avoidable." Clay had just finished his freshman year of college and was at a party. He texted his mom to say he was going to stay the night and even joked with his friends as he put himself to bed. However, Clay never woke up. He and his friends had taken prescription drugs with alcohol, and this combination took Clay's life. His friends never dreamed something like this could happen and were determined to make sure others were made aware of the dangers. They talked with Clay's family about making a film.

"If They Had Known" chronicles the night Clay died from the perspective of his friends and family members, and it contains interviews with experts in the field of youth substance use. Genny and her family have made it their mission to see that this film is shown in high schools and colleges across the country to ensure that the risks of combining prescription drugs with alcohol are made known.

Learn more about the film and the Soper family's organization's mission at claysopermemorialfund.com.