The Drug Crisis: Faces Behind the Struggle

Tim Arnold of the Philadelphia based band Good Old War shares his story about his art and overcoming addiction to drugs and alcohol. We also hear one of Arnold's favorite new songs he's written about addiction.

In 2011, Cheryl Juaire lost her 23 year old son, Corey, to an accidental drug overdose. She thought she was alone in her grief until she met people from other families grieving over their lost loved ones too. Juaire decided to create an organization, Team Sharing, to help other families dealing with the loss of a loved one to drugs.  Today, Team Sharing has chapters in nine states and is continuing to grow.

Nearly two years after the US Surgeon General's Office issued its first-ever report on the state of drug abuse in the US, more than 150 people continue to die every day from addiction.  One out of three Americans has been touched by this crisis.  Ryan Hampton was part of the core team responsible for the Surgeon General's report.  A person in recovery himself, Hampton is in the center of America's rising recovery advocacy movement. He encourages victims to speak out and tell their stories in this compelling discussion.

Karen Bailey lost her 24 year old son, Corey, in 2011 to an opioid overdose. To add to Karen's terrible burden of loss she also lost her daughter, Alyssa, Corey's younger sister, a victim of suicide nearly four years later.  Alyssa had also battled addiction and shared drugs with her brother on the day he died. While Alyssa survived at that time, her brother's death only made her addiction worse, leading to her tragic death. Karen, their mother, says it all started with marijuana.

Taylor, whose story was told in an earlier podcast, lost her best friend to a heroin overdose in 2011 and, in her grief, became addicted to drugs herself. She describes her year long struggle to take control of her addiction.

A young woman named Taylor who became addicted to drugs after the overdose death of a friend tells her powerful and inspiring story in a message to Justin Veatch. She only remembered Justin as "a skinny kid" she saw in the hallways of her school.  But she also knew that he too, had died from an overdose a few years earlier. Taylor details her personal struggle in an open letter to Justin that sends a profound message of hope for all who have been touched by the drug crisis.

Kevin Sabet--author of Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths About Marijuana and drug policy advisor to three White House Administrations--discusses the latest research on marijuana and its impact on our society. His organization, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), is the go-to place to cut through the myths and expose the threat that commercialization of marijuana could create the next "big tobacco" of our time.

Dr. Roneet Lev is the chief of the emergency department at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, California and one of the nation's leading doctors for safety in prescribing drugs. From opiate prescriptions to heroin, marijuana to vaping, she has seen it all. Dr. Lev was instrumental in creating "The Death Diaries" a compilation of drug death victims and the reasons they died.  In a conversation with host Jeffrey Veatch she offers sound advice to all who use any kinds of drugs.

Darryl Rodgers lost his 20-year old son Chase in a drug related car crash in 2014.  Rodgers tells his family's story in the book A Life Half Lived and speaks to young people in a way that they can easily relate.

In this episode of The Drug Crisis: Faces Behind the Struggle Joe Fuld--founder of The Campaign Workshop, a political communications firm in Washington DC--discusses how to transform loss and struggle with addiction into advocacy for healing and change.