Jack had always been the life of the party. His friends admired his ability to light up a room with his infectious laughter and endless stories. But behind the facade, Jack was struggling with a dark secret: alcoholism. For years, he battled his addiction, losing jobs, relationships, and his sense [...]
Government regulation in the addiction treatment industry is indeed a double-edged sword, offering both significant benefits and notable challenges. On one hand, regulation ensures that addiction treatment facilities adhere to high standards of care. This is crucial in an industry where vulnerable individuals seek help for serious health issues. Regulations [...]
I’ve spoken out about drug addiction and its direct effect on the family far before it was grabbing headlines and trending. I don’t even know if “trending” was a thing back when I started. If THIS work, not my poetry, becomes what I am remembered for – it will be [...]
Grief is Grief is Grief is dedicated to my cousin Jessica, on her 30th birthday. I usually talk in metrics. About how my award winning work on the heroin epidemic and its effect on families has a worldwide readership. I usually bring up statistics. Like how in 2015, 52,000 people [...]
I was a college student—not a “real” smoker—when I tried to quit for the first time. Oblivious to the severity of my addiction, I purchased a box of nicotine patches with confidence. I’ve smoked only a few years; if these things work for old people with black lungs, they should [...]
A while back, Elizabeth Gilbert wrote a post that stopped me in my tracks. Here it is in it’s entirety: “Most of us, at some point in our lives (unless we have done everything perfectly…which is: nobody) will have to face a terrible moment in which we realize that we [...]
Hey Jess, It’s Alicia. I am not sure if you know, but today is September 19, and today marks 10 years since you left us, and your pain, for another plane of existence. So much has happened, you wouldn’t even believe it. I honestly do not know where to start [...]
By Douglas Capraro If there are any two issues that have come to define a large part of this year’s presidential race, it is drug policy and criminal justice reform. And unsurprisingly, these two issues are not mutually exclusive. Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, for instance, has made the reformation of [...]
By Alex McKendry Over the past several years in the US, particularly following the 2014 election when Republicans gained a majority of the senate, a number of states have managed to pass legislation which forces mandated drug tests upon the recipients of federal aid, as a part of the screening [...]
Today was a bad day. I couldn’t escape active addiction. I tried, but it was everywhere. I am not talking about my own. By the grace of God I haven’t picked up in 2 years, but when you actively participate in your recovery and are involved in service work in [...]
