There’s been a marked uptick in so-called deaths of despair—those involving drugs, alcohol or suicide—among millennials over the last decade, according to a new report released by public-health groups Trust for America’s Health and Well Being Trust.

Drug, alcohol and suicide deaths have risen in nearly every age group over the last decade, but the increase has been especially pronounced for younger Americans.

Between 2007 and 2017, drug-related deaths increased by 108% among adults ages 18 to 34, All together, about 36,000 millennials died “deaths of despair” in 2017, with fatal drug overdoses being the biggest driver. People are more likely to die from a drug overdose, than a car accident.

In order to better understand this issue, I wanted to talk to people who are on the frontlines of this issue. So many times in the media, we offer intellectual debates about topics, instead of actually getting to the root source. In this case I needed to reach out to recovering addicts who are helping change the world. That is why I reached out to the creator and host of the This is Our Normal Podcast, Saul Jones, to see if he would sit down for an interview. Saul is a comedian, as well as an addiction advocate. He has suffered from drug addiction for most of his adult life; because of this, he wanted to help de-stigmatize addicts and addiction by creating a podcast that centers around recovery and the crazy, albeit funny, things addicts do while under the influence.

Saul, along with his co-host, Brian Hood, and producer Joel Cowen, drove out to Las Vegas to talk with me about the opioid epidemic, mental health, and their fight to help prevent another person dying from this progressive disease.

Here is a conversation you should know about with the cast of the This is Our Normal Podcast, Saul Jones, Brian Hood, and Joel Cowen.

For more information on This is Our Normal Podcast head over to: https://www.thisisournormalpodcast.com/

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