My mom was not a perfect person. She may have lacked judgment, may have made poor choices. She may have done things, and said things, that were not right, influenced by the pills she ate and the madness that she developed over time. My mom hurt her children over the years....

I remember being locked in my room. I have these little hinge door locks and I was searching desperately for them. I was overdosing. I had never overdosed before up to that point, and I could feel myself literally slipping slowly into death. I prayed to this God that I didn't...

My name is Maya, I'm seventeen years old, and I have 2 and a half years off of prescription opioids. I am a young person recovering from addiction. Never in my childhood did I ever see myself having to identify myself like that - with the word "addict." I grew up thinking that...

My name is Steve. I've been a police officer for 19 years and a narcotics detective for the past 10 years. My job like many of you know is high risk, high stress. I worked undercover making drug buys, utilizing informants and conducting raids on residences. Early on in my...

I am a person in long-term recovery. What that means for me is that I have not used any type of mood altering substance in over eight years. Recovery has allowed me to become a positive and contributing member of my family and community and to serve my state and our country in a...

When I got clean and sober there was something that came along with completing 12 steps and living a life in recovery. Like a prize at the end of the game or a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. They told me I would get “a life beyond my wildest dreams.” I am here to tell...

Every 15 minutes, someone in the United States dies of a drug overdose. Our sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers are being lost at a record rate. What are we actually doing about it? I run a large jail and I saw the need to move beyond talk to action...

My name is Ryan Grose and I was born into this disease. Substance abuse runs in my family. My grandfather died of it, and my father lives with it as well. As anyone who’s a child of an addict knows, it can really affect you. For me, my family’s issues with addiction affected my...

Who am I? A woman. An activist, believer in women’s empowerment, Jamerican. Progressive. I’m also a two-time breast cancer survivor. That last one is the most important to me. I want people to know me as a survivor. The road from discovery to recovery for me was not easy, but...