The Addiction Podcast-Point of No Return

Emily Souther's story:  At 16 years old I dropped out of highschool and got my GED.  I moved out of my home and got an apartment with my boyfriend.  I went to work full-time for my father at his landscape company.  I was a good kid who struggled in school and just couldn't do it anymore.  My parents had divorced a few years prior and at this time my mom and sister moved to Hawaii.  At this point i...

Michael R. DeLeon, a successfully acclimated ex-offender who after nearly 8 years of drug addiction and gang involvement, spent 12 years in state prison and half-way houses for a gang-related homicide. Michael plead guilty in a very emotional and complicated case involving the murder of his own Mother by people tasked to kill him.  Since Michael's release from prison, he has earned 3 Associates De...

Dr. Stuyt is a board-certified Addiction Psychiatrist and has worked in the addiction/behavioral health field since 1990. She was the Medical Director for the Circle Program, a 90-day inpatient treatment program, funded by the state of Colorado, for persons with co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse who have failed other levels of treatment from June 1999 to May 2020. She was instrumenta...

Alcoholism is one of the biggest public health crises in the United States today, and it has been for generations. We know this because of the statistics and information on alcoholism and addiction that have been collected over the years, showing how alcohol and substance abuse have affected people across genders, ages, and socioeconomic statuses.   According to the CDC, six Americans a day die fr...

Bestselling author Christine Pisera Naman has been the mother of an addict, and she has an intense story to tell. Her latest book, About Natalie, is the true story of what it has been like for Christine to deal with the emotions of being a parent in challenging circumstances. She writes of her experiences and her feelings and her suffering along with her daughter. And how she came out the other si...

Ryan David Leaf is an advocate for those struggling with mental, and behavioral health issues and encourages audiences to transform the way we think about mental health issues and addiction. Ryan works to eliminate the mental health stigma and says, "asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness." The former quarterback had a stellar career at Washington State, which included Pac-12 Offensiv...

Brandon Jordan has been a professional musician all of his adult life. He founded the infamous punk band KillRadio (Columbia Records) in 2002 and toured the world with bands like  Green Day ,  My Chemical Romance , and  Rise Against , until his drug addiction made performing impossible. He got treatment with the support of MusicCares in 2007 and has been sober for more than a decade. Now, Brandon...

Chris' story of addiction is one of the darkest and most harrowing that we have heard.  However, it is sometimes in the darkest hour that a person finds the light and turns his life around.  Chris did that.  After years of addiction and attempts to get clean, Chris now has two successful businesses and is a father.

For the past ten years Cynthia Munger has devoted her time to the issues of substance use disease with special focus on Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family and their role in the opioid crisis. In 2019, Cynthia wrote and presented to Boston Opioid Spoon Conference a paper entitled, "The Web of Conflict." Cynthia is a listed officer in the Opioid Spoon Project non-profit, one of the five person mem...

Once involved in drugs, illegal activities and incarceration, today Jeff Nash is a role model for change as the CEO of Habilitat Hawai`i. A long term addiction treatment center which provides people a safe haven where they can transform their lives, Habilitat Hawai`i is like no other place on earth. Jeff has 4 years experience with private school high school administration as VP administration for...

Graduating at age 19 from NYU film school, Nick Jarecki began his career as the author of the best-selling book Breaking In: How 20 Film Directors Got Their Start, which introduced him to various figures in the New York independent film world, leading him to direct a documentary about indie filmmaking – The Outsider (2005). His first narrative feature as director, Arbitrage (starring Richard Gere,...

After overcoming homelessness and drug addiction, Adam Vibe Gunton became passionate about sharing the hope of recovery with those suffering similar experiences. With only two years of recovery, Adam had built a 7-figure business, began public speaking, and launched his now #1 Bestselling book: From Chains to Saved. For the year following that launch, Adam founded Recovered on Purpose and helped m...

After going from a strong, moral upbringing in Southern Oklahoma to a drug-related downfall that had him facing federal prison, Bobby Newman understands what those who are addicted feel and think. That's what enables him to cut through the resistance and manipulative tactics of an addicted person and help them choose life and recovery. In the eighteen years since he completed a long-term drug reha...

In his early years, Grant Cardone, creator of a billion dollar empire, was close to dying and strung out on multiple drugs. His story is one of strength and determination. From hospitalizations to decisions to quit that didn't happen to a final decision, inspired by his mother, to get clean that eventually lead him to turn his life around completely. Grant is known as a motivational and inspiratio...

Eric Protein Moseley, is a social impact documentary filmmaker/homeless advocate, director, author and business man who grew up in Detroit Michigan, dropped out of school, became addicted to drugs and other things, and used his shortcoming to become a motivation for those who don't have the inspiration to continue on with their dream, no matter what the circumstances. Moseley has been recognized a...

David Sanchez is the founder and director of Los Angeles-based organization STRIKE OUT AGAINST DRUGS. Born in Redondo Beach, California, David Sanchez began learning about drugs at age 9 when a neighbor offered him marijuana. By age 15, he was using harder drugs that first led to juvenile jail and eventually to multiple penitentiaries. The turning points came in 2012 when he finally conquered his...

Camille Schrier, 24, grew up In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, before moving to Virginia to pursue her undergraduate degrees. In 2018, Camille graduated with honors from Virginia Tech with dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Biochemistry and Systems Biology, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy at Virginia Commonwealth University. In June of 2019, Camille was named Miss Virginia after break...

At 12 years old, Mark Owens started smoking pot. At 17 he started shooting coke and heroin. By the time he was 25 he had been to prison twice and arrested countless times. This chapter of his life ended when he was arrested for a bank robbery and dozens of other robberies in Maryland. After spending 6 months in solitary confinement for attempted escape, he figured it out. He was in prison for 4 ye...

Arthur is the former Deputy Drug Czar for the United States during President Trump's period in office. He holds a PhD and is certified in trauma treatment. He is also a licensed professional counselor, licensed addiction counselor and a licensed drug and alcohol counselor. He has a story to tell. https://youtu.be/nX0pDbk1mIA

Katie Sullivan has her own personal history with alcohol addiction. When she was a drug court judge in Colorado, she headed up a program that helped save hundreds, if not thousands, of lives by holding the addicts accountable and making it clear that they could leave clean and sober lives. More recently, Katie was appointed by Attorney General William Barr as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney Ge...

Both Jeannie and Marcus Marshall have their own story of addiction. But both are in recovery - Jeannie for 35 years and Marcus for 9 years - and they are giving back to the addiction community with their Keys to Recovery Newspaper. Both have a passion to help. https://youtu.be/AWGrt0PEnCg

When Peter Canning started work as a paramedic on the streets of Hartford, Connecticut, twenty-five years ago, he believed drug users were victims of their own character flaws. Although he took care of them, he did not care for them. But as the overdoses escalated, Canning began asking his patients how they had gotten started on their journeys. And while no two stories were the same, their heartre...

Roneet, Lev, MD FACEP was the first Chief Medical Officer of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Listen to this "no holds barred" episode about drugs, Narcan, fentanyl, marijuana poisoning and much much more. She has the facts, people. She works in an ER every day so she's on the front lines of the addiction pandemic.  She has her own podcast - High Truths.  Give it a listen if...

Julie Weintraub is president of one of the most successful family owned jewelry companies in the southeast - Gold & Diamond Source - with her husband, Steve. In 2010, Julie founded Hands Across the Bay, a non-profit organization that has quickly become one of the most notable and respected charitable organizations in Tampa Bay helping countless families in need. Julie talks about the connectio...

Emily Walden's son, TJ, was prescribed opioids through his childhood during a series of operations. But he became addicted only once he started using OxyContin and moved on to the similar Opana. He was a 21-year-old member of the Kentucky National Guard when he died of an opioid overdoes four years later. Now Ms. Walden is the chairwoman of The Fed Up! Coalition with the mission to call for immedi...