The Addiction Podcast - Point of No Return

Theo Fleury is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He twice represented Canada at the Winter Olympics, winning a gold medal in 2002. After battling drug and alcohol addictions that ultimately forced him out of the NHL in 2003, he has becoming a sought after speaker. In 2009 he published his best-selling autobiography - Playing with Fire - which documented years of sexual abuse as a teen by his former coach.

In the last episode of the podcast, we talked to Dan about the death of his son Danny.  Dan found the murderer and saw him convicted.  Dan promised God that if he'd help him find Danny's murderer, that he would be on a mission for God.  What Dan did next is the subject of crime thrillers.  Noticing that one doctor in his area was writing 90% of the prescriptions for pain meds, he eventually got her license revoked and her criminally prosecuted.

Tim has seen and done it all.  He's been an addict.  He's run million dollar companies.  Drugs stole more than half of his life but now he's dedicated every waking minute since walking out of prison to dealing hope to addicts and their families.  Tim says "where there is life, there is hope." Known as The Hope Dealer, Tim is a successful entrepreneur, grateful recovering heroin addict and alcoholic - and truth-talking convicted felon.Tim and his wife - Jennifer Gimenez - are a power couple.

In 1999, Dan Schneider - a Louisiana pharmacist - lost his only son to a drug related murder.  Unlike, perhaps, what most of us would do, Dan was relentless in pursuing his son's murderer and kept up an investigation for more than a year to bring the perpetrator to justice.  He finally saw the man sentenced to 15 years.  Dan's story of investigation and ultimately redemption is the subject of a trending Netflix docu series - The Pharmacist. His story doesn't end there.

This interview is with Connor Miller, 26 years old. He was a heroin addict who got clean from drugs four years ago and since then, he has not looked back. He co-founded a 50 million dollar logistics business with his father and now he is in the process of teaching himself how to be a filmmaker. He's been a successful entrepreneur and has a great method for approaching sobriety - be on the offense, rather than the defense.

Robert is a successful entrepreneur and childhood sexual abuse survivor.  Straddling the line between poor and destitute, Robert was raised by a single mother in a failing steel town.  Robert wrote his book - Before I Leave You - as a final message, fully intending to end his life after writing it.  However, he's now married with a child and living life to it's fullest.  It can be done.

Mike Diamond, former reality TV star, motivational speaker/author, and celebrity interventionist.  Being 13+ years sober himself, Mike shares his knowledge in his new book “7 Steps to an Unbreakable Mindset," speaks in schools around the nation and keynotes national health conferences. In addition, he is currently in development on a TV Show (with a major network, soon to be announced!) showcasing his work helping addicted youth find recovery.

Dr. Mohr strongly supports treatment and sustainable recovery. He is not an advocate for the delegalization of marijuana.  In his capacity as epidemiologist for Drug Free America, he researches the effects of marijuana - especially on our youth.  Dr. Mohr has recently written a timely article on the effects of the Coronavirus on drug addiction relapse: https://www.dfaf.org/coronavirus-and-stimulus-may-increase-risk-of-relapse-for-many/

We titled this podcast as Janet being a champion for newborns. This is because she worked as a neonatal nurse and had to treat newborns born addicted to drugs in an ever increasing number with the opioid addiction epidemic being in full swing. However, with the death of a friend's son due to overdose, her campaign became all about pill mills and legal distribution of deadly drugs. Her book and her organization are called STOPP Now. http://stoppnow.com/ Get involved.

Shelley Winner was introduced to alcohol by her dad at age 11.  Her drug and alcohol use grew from there to trafficking in drugs in her 30s.  She was arrested and received a 4 year sentence in a federal institution in California.  She got clean, gave birth to a wonderful baby boy and now works for a high tech company.  She advocates for formerly incarcerated people.  Watch her interview on Ted Talk here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zOikuUjzw8

What, you ask, is pharmacognosy?  It's the study of medicinal plants.  Pamela Seefeld is all about replacing drugs with natural remedies and it's not just about her opinion.  It's about science and she knows the science.  If you, or someone you know, has been prescribed any sort of pain killer, you need to listen to this episode and talk to Pamela BEFORE you continue.

A tenacious crusader in today’s drug crisis, Allie Severino is no stranger to addiction–or to the stigma that comes with being an addict. Allie has devoted her life’s work to breaking down the stigma associated with substance use disorders and increasing access to care for all who experience them. Allie speaks regularly with schools, drug court officials, judges,teachers, parents and those like herself who are dealing with addictions. 

Nick Ferguson grew up in the inner city of Miami, known as the projects.  Within his neighborhood and even his own family, he was aware of the negative effects of addiction from an early age.  With the influence of two of his teachers and his mother, he went down a different path and decided to use his God given talent as an athlete to pursue professional sports.  After 10 years in the NFL, he is working to educate youth about the dangers of drugs.  He is the host of 1043 - "The Fan" in Denver.

In his just released book "Pharma", a meticulously documented expose of decades of fraud, incompetence, conspiracy and avarice, award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author Gerald Posner traces the heroes and villains of the trillion-dollar-a-year pharmaceutical industry and uncovers how those once entrusted with improving life have often betrayed that ideal to corruption and reckless profiteering—with deadly consequences.

James Brown has his own addiction story. It's not dissimilar to stories we've told about children starting on alcohol or marijuana. But James' story has so much tragedy - the loss of his siblings - that it's a wonder that he survived and has been clean and sober for more than a decade. Not only is he clean and sober but he's written three semi-autobiographical books in an effort to hell his story and help others recover from loss and addiction.