This episode is an interview with two of the producers of a new feature-length documentary by Award-winning Editor Mary Sue Connolly. The film is an 80-minute documentary set in the small town of Petersburg, West Virginia, a rural community tragically impacted by the opioid epidemic in our country. Why West Virginia? Because West Virginia was specifically targeted by pharmaceutical companies as a dumping ground of pain pills. Hard to believe? Not so much.

Even those in the medical field are susceptible to addiction. You might think that because they are more educated in the effects of drugs on the body that this would not be the case but today's episode is the story of a nurse who became addicted to Fentanyl and lost everything. She's regained what she lost and more and has been sober for more than 10 years. Her name is Kris Waite Labott and she wrote about her addiction in her book "An Unlikely Addict" available on Amazon or at www.unlikelyaddict.com.

Recently Canada legalized recreational marijuana countrywide. This is really such a bad idea. States in the US have legalized marijuana because they think they will make money, yet the states where it has been legalized are making less than 1% or their total budget from the taxes on the sale of recreational marijuana. If you then add in the law enforcement and medical costs of people becoming addicted to marijuana, the math doesn't work.

Kathy Dion has worked inside the addiction arena for more than 20 years. She's worked with addicts and rehab facilities. She is a certified specialist in addiction. In her book - After Rehab - A Simple Guide to Aid in Lasting Sobriety - she gives 10 simple tips on how to help maintain sobriety and live a happy life.

Make sure you are sitting down and are prepared for an emotional roller coaster ride with Micheal DeLeon's story. The story of addiction and crime and redemption doesn't get any more astounding than this. Pot, heroin, cocaine, opioids, prison, gangs, rehab, it's all here. And here is a man who has not only turned his own life around but who is using his experience to change the lives of thousands of children in 47 states in the U.S.

Jason is traveling to visit his folks but recently we had a father reach out on our Facebook page with the story of his son's addiction and treatment. We thought you would like to hear his story. As we've touched on over and over again, addiction affects those around the addict almost more than it does the addict and this story is a true representation of that.

A white paper was published in May wherein over 100 people who had done the New Life Detoxification Program (one of the components of the Narconon program) were examined and surveyed and the results are quite telling. The experts have said it, not just Jason and Joanie. If you have questions, it's worth a read.

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0300060518779314

Jason just came back from LA where he met with people in rehab from Narconons across the world. He also got to see parts of LA that are rife with drug addiction. More on the commentary about the use of methadone and suboxone.

Dave Chase is - among other things - the author of a new book - The Opioid Crisis Wake-up Call. This book is available as a free download at healthrosetta.org. In it, he talks about how the healthcare system is contributing to the opioid crisis in this country and how some large companies are combatting this. It's a different perspective on the whole addiction epidemic in this country.

We're heading into the holidays. This is the time of year when some the friends and families of addicts don't want to "rock the boat" because they think that if they and the addict can just get through the holiday, all will be different. The wrong thing to do is nothing. If you know someone who is battling addiction, get help NOW. And more explanation of an intervention.