Robert G. Kanter is the world's most respected international media commentator and recovery advocate addressing the fentanyl epidemic. He is an empowering thought leader and public speaker who is recognized as a subject matter expert in the field. His television and radio interviews, podcasts and articles have been featured in media in the United States, Russia, China, Japan, Israel, Turkey, Spain, Australia, Canada and Qatar. Mr. Kanter is interviewed often on topics including fentanyl source countries, C.D.C. statistics, legislation, lawsuit settlements, and developments at the D.E.A., White House and United Nations. He shares openly in the media about how he and his daughter have recovered from substance use disorder.

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Decisions by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100756

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Jason Yamas is a queer fiction and nonfiction writer making his prose debut as author of Tweakerworld: A Memoir (Unnamed Press, 2023). 

Meet Jason: a college educated documentary film producer, cat parent of two, and was one of San Francisco’s top drug dealers. 

After Jason’s world fell apart in LA, he moved to Berkeley for a fresh start with his kid brother. Just one problem: his long-closeted Adderall addiction had exploded into an out-of-control crystal meth binge. Within weeks, Jason plunged into the sprawling ParTy n’ ’Play subculture of the Bay Area’s gay community. It is a wildly decadent scene of drugs, group sex, and criminals, and yet it is also filled with surprising characters, people who continually subverted Jason’s own presumptions of the stereotypical tweaker (slang) A person addicted to methamphetamine.

Soon Jason became a dealer on the pretense of researching this tweaker world for a project that would carry him, like a life raft, back to the shores of a normal life. But his friendly entrepreneurial spirit and trusting disposition disarmed clients and rival dealers alike. The money began to roll in as demand increased to frightening levels. Suddenly, Jason was in control of the entire crystal meth market for San Francisco’s gay community, even as he was nodding off behind the wheel of his car, or walking down the sidewalk. As friends and family worked frantically to steer him towards recovery, Jason resisted, chasing something else: a sleepless nirvana fueled by sex, drugs, and the Tweakerworld. 

With painful honesty, Jason Yamas has crafted a landmark narrative that is not just a personal account of addiction, but a portrait of a vulnerable, largely undocumented community of people who, for many reasons, have been marginalized to the point of invisibility.

Prior to his foray into literature, he produced documentary and narrative films such as Jonathan Caouette's Walk Away Renee (SundanceNow) and Stephen Winter's Jason & Shirley (Criterion). He produced charity arts and music projects in Detroit with the late great songwriter Allee Willis ("September", The Friends Theme, The Color Purple.) His self-directed and produced feature Not Me, Murphy premiered at the MIX NYC Film Festival. He's currently writing his first novel and pursuing acting training at the Sanford Meisner Center. He holds a BFA from NYU, Tisch School of the Arts in Drama and has performed in and directed in the experimental downtown New York theatre scene. With the publication of Tweakerworld, he intends to shine a bright light on the worsening epidemic of crystal meth in the LGBTQ+ community.

Intro and Outro music by:

Decisions by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100756

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Judy L. Mandel is a former reporter and marketing executive. After the death of her parents, she knew that it was time to write the story of her family; their emotional and physical survival of a devastating plane crash that killed her older sister and left the remaining sister critically burned. Her first book, New York Times Bestseller Replacement Child – a memoir, is that story. Her second book, White Flag, was published in October, 2022. White Flag is related to her first book, exploring the tentacles of transgenerational trauma stemming from the family tragedy—the plane crash in 1952. Within the context of her family history, Judy delved into the nature of addiction, epigenetics, trauma and brain chemistry to seek answers to the questions every loved one of someone with substance abuse disease asks: What happened, why her, what could I have done to save her? Judy holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Stony Brook University.

Judy Mandel's investigational memoir takes the reader along on her journey, to not only help her niece, Cheryl, who struggles with Substance Use Disorder, but to understand how the underlying events in Cheryl's life, as well as those of her entire family, may have put Cheryl on a path that no one could have predicted.

Intro and Outro music by:

Decisions by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100756

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Clint Arthur is a Wharton Business School graduate & award-winning Speaker & Info-Marketer who appears frequently on The Today Show, ABC NBC CBS Fox TV News & Talk Shows. He’s shared the stage with Martha Stewart, Dr Oz, Suzanne Somers, Caitlyn Jenner, IceT, and 5 Presidents of the United States at Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, London Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, Mercedes, Porsche, Coca Cola, Microsoft, the Royal Society of Medicine, AT&T and Carnegie Hall. He lives in New York City, Los Angeles & Acapulco with his wife Ali, and Nova, their Billion Peso Puppy. “Wisdom Of The Men,” his 21st bestselling book, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

Intro and Outro music by:

Decisions by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100756

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Cammie’s a mother, an advocate, an author and an agent for change. She has personal experience dealing with the dangers of opioid misuse through her own son’s battle from childhood through his passing at 32. Cammie has transferred her pain into purpose. She has made it her mission to raise awareness about the opioid epidemic and alternative pain management strategies.

Cammie works with multiple nonprofit organizations, including her own, to create positive change in the community by increasing education about opioid addiction, changing the lives of youth, and giving people the tools to create a brighter future.

Cammie raises awareness about the opioid epidemic affecting our nation through her nonprofit, her speaking events and podcast appearances, journal publications, and now her upcoming book.

Intro and Outro music by:

Decisions by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100756

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Kay Sumner is an Emmy Nominated Producer and Film Director. She has extensive production experience, including three Emmy nominations and two People’s Choice awards as the Co-Creator and Producer for The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan.

​She and her husband, Murray Sumner, established the non-profit foundation, Not One More Time in 2018 for the purposes of creating, packaging, and disseminating film, print, and media educational content.

The motivation for its creation was due to the unfortunate loss of their 43 yr. old son to a drug overdose. They struggled to understand how this could have happened and how it could have been prevented. 

Filmmakers by profession, they chose to channel their grief and turn their talents into creating a documentary that would expose the destructive path that opioids can cause in the lives of everyday normal people. The result is a critically acclaimed 54 min. documentary film entitled “SURVIVORS’.  It is the assembled stories of the journey to freedom from addiction.

The documentary SURVIVORS (2021): UNTOLD STORIES IN AMERICA'S OPIOID CRISIS is Kay's directorial debut. It details real stories of opioid recoveries and losses and has won multiple best feature documentary awards.

Jackie Siegel is best known for her role in the award-winning documentary feature, Queen of Versailles (Magnolia Pictures), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012. A little back story: Jackie earned the "Queen" moniker when a decade ago, she and husband, David Siegel, began an extravagant project to build the largest private residence in the U.S.—named Versailles—and the ambitious construction ground to a halt as the '08 recession dented their fortune. The rise and fall of their grand ambitions were captured in the critically acclaimed 2012 documentary based on their plans for the 90,000-square-foot behemoth near Orlando, FL. 

In 2016, the Siegel’s world changed forever when their then 18-year-daughter, Victoria, died of a drug overdose. This tragedy has trajected them into a new life purpose: to save lives through drug prevention programs. As a result, the Siegels have created a foundation in Victoria’s memory called Victoria’s Voice. Its purpose is to bring drug prevention education into the schools, offer healthy social media opportunities for young people, and assist first responders in receiving and administering Narcan (Naloxone) to an overdose victim, which has proven to save lives. When Victoria was discovered, she still had a heartbeat. It’s possible she could have been saved if the first responders had been equipped with Narcan.

In 2019, Siegel released a profoundly personal book, “Victoria’s Voice,” compiled from the pages of her late daughter’s journal. The Siegels decided to leave it just as Victoria had left it with drawings, poems, heartfelt feelings of loneliness and sadness. It is a very emotionally-charged read that all need to take heed of. It is a glimpse into the heart of a hurting teen that reveals to parents not uncommon struggles of their children. “If only one life can be saved through our efforts,” says Mrs. Siegel, “it will have been worth all of the time, effort, and money.” Later that year, Siegel also released The Princess of Versailles documentary on the fourth anniversary of Victoria’s passing. The documentary aimed to bring awareness of America’s opioid crisis to another level. In 2020, Siegel published a children's book “Oliver Uncollared” with her twin teen daughters to help kids cope with loss and grief.

Mrs. Siegel continues to schedule a full calendar as a model, actress, and philanthropist, but since Victoria’s loss, more priority is now given to Victoria’s Voice Foundation as she and her husband tirelessly work to bring local communities, state legislatures and even the federal government in agreement to do more about the opioid epidemic and its often tragic results.

The former Mrs. Florida America is also actively involved in the national Mrs. America organization and now many of the beauty queens have become outspoken advocates of Victoria’s Voice and saving lives.

Most recently, Siegel welcomed cameras back into her life and the Versailles mansion with the Discovery+ original series, Queen of Versailles Reigns Again, released in March 2022.

Dorothy Diane "Dedee" Pfeiffer  is an American film and television actress. She is best known for playing Cybill's daughter, Rachel, on the sitcom Cybill (1995-1997), Sheri on the sitcom For Your Love (1998-2002), and her film appearance as Val in The Allnighter (1987). 

She is also known for guest appearances on several other 90's sitcoms such as Wings, Ellen, Seinfeld, and Friends. Most recently, she is known for playing Denise Brisbane on the ABC drama Big Sky.

Since 2020, the “Cybill” alum has been starring in David E. Kelley’s hit ABC crime drama “Big Sky,” which she describes as a “rebirth” after taking a 10-year hiatus to battle addiction issues and raise two children as a single mother.

While away from Hollywood, the actress also went back to school, earning a master’s degree in social work from UCLA.

She says leaving acting behind for a decade provided her with a reality check, as she got to work with the homeless and the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health.

Hon. Jim Carroll has substantial experience as a legal advisor to two White House administrations, federal government agencies, and a Fortune 25 company. He counsels clients on complex and sensitive issues involving government and internal investigations, corporate ethics and compliance programs, and white collar defense.

In his 30-plus years as an attorney and a Washington insider, Jim has also built a reputation as a go-to choice for strategic business and policy counseling. In addition to his role as a Partner at Michael Best, Jim is also a principal at Michael Best Consulting LLC. Previously, Jim was a co-founder and principal of DC Consulting LLC, a consulting firm specializing in public health, pharmaceutical and substance abuse and regulatory risk involving law enforcement issues.

Earlier in his career, Jim spent a decade as in-house counsel at Ford Motor Company where for many years he was the Company’s Global Director of Compliance. Jim also served as the nation’s “Drug Czar” for three years, following his unanimous confirmation by the United States Senate.

Jim’s significant federal government and legal experience include the following:

- Starting in 2018, served for three years as the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy after being unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate. Under Jim’s leadership as the “US Drug Czar”, the U.S. saw its first year-over-year decrease in overdose deaths in 30 years.

- Served in a number of high-profile posts at the White House between 2016 to 2018, including roles as Deputy Chief of Staff and Deputy White House Counsel.

- Appointed General Counsel of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

- Spent 10 years as a legal advisor to the Ford Motor Company. Jim served as the automaker’s Washington Counsel and Global Director of Compliance. During Jim’s tenure there, Ford was named one of the “World’s Most Ethical Companies” for three consecutive years by Ethisphere Institute. Jim was also General Counsel to the Ford Motor Company Fund, the company’s philanthropic arm.

- Served as Deputy General Counsel and Acting General Counsel to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

- Served as Associate Counsel and Special Assistant to the President between 2002 to 2004.

- Attorney at  the Department of Justice, Office of Legal Policy.

Selected as Assistant Ethics Counsel in the White House Office of Counsel to the President.

- Served as Attorney Advisor to the Department of Justice, Executive Office for United States Attorneys.

Jim began his legal career as a prosecutor in the Virginia Commonwealth Attorney’s Office in Fairfax, VA. He went on to serve as Assistant Bar Counsel for the Virginia State Bar before transitioning his career to the federal level.

Dan’s career started as a dancer on Broadway and on award show stages with Britney Spears. After transitioning to a choreographer, he worked with Britney Spears, NSYNC, Jessica Simpson, Kylie Minogue, Justin Timberlake and Usher.

Although he quickly became known for his work dancing and choreographing for pop music superstars, Karaty broadened his reach with powerful dancing and cutting-edge choreography in commercials and events for iPod, Best Buy, Mattel, Dance Central 2, Miller, Xbox Kinect, IKEA, and many more.

In 2005, So You Think You Can Dance debuted in the US with Dan as a judge. After three successful seasons, he took the format to Europe where he became the Simon Cowell of the Netherlands and Belgium leading judging panels for numerous talent shows. Dan, with his effortless cool brand, made his acting debut by starring in Soof, the number one film franchise in Dutch history. Despite keeping his personal life private and his effortless cool brand, Dan took the brave step of sharing with the public his lifelong struggles with anxiety and alcohol. Dan is a doting and devoted father and husband that made mistakes due to his struggles.

In addition to releasing another film and returning to the judging panel of Got Talent, in 2022 Dan is launching a podcast – If I’m Being Honest – which will strip away surface facades to deliver the real, in-depth and sometimes ugly truths of his life, and those of his courageous guests; hopefully revealing unique paths to happiness, success, recovery and redemption.