This podcast addresses hope and recovery successes for individuals, friends, family, parents and associates who have been or may be addicted to opioids, heroin, cocaine, prescription drugs, fentanyl, alcohol, etc. These are stories and interviews with former addicts, parents and loved ones that describe the horrors and ultimately methods they have sought and found to save lives and help. We talk also with law enforcement, doctors, authors, sports figures, academia and advocates. Issues inclu ...
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Bob Kinney A Daughters Love, a Fathers Redemption
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35:38Bob Kinney is a recovered alcoholic after an 18-year battle of severe alcoholism. He is a father of six children and has 12 grandchildren. He is a veteran with a heart for homeless veterans. He is a Christian, retired carpenter, and devoted father and grandpa, residing in New Hope, MN. He is the author of Kill Me or Cure Me, a memoir published in 2…
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Nick Jonsson Rock Bottom, Recovery and Resilience
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33:02Success isn’t just about climbing the ladder—it’s about helping others climb it too. That’s the heart of Nick Jonsson, co-founder and Managing Director of EGN (Executives' Global Network) across Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Through EGN, Nick has built a lifeline for 800+ senior leaders—a safe space for connection, strategy, and real talk in …
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Dr. Frederic Luskin is a psychologist who has been teaching at Stanford University for the past 30 years. He has a Ph. D in Counseling and Health Psychology from Stanford University and holds clinical licenses as a Psychologist and a Marriage and Family Counselor. Currently he is on the faculty for the GSB Executive Education program where he teach…
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Dan Zsido - Educating on Narcan and Saving Lives 2025
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26:39Dan Zsido has had 15 years of narcotics investigative experience with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. He established and supervised the Strategic Diversion Task Force investigating pharmaceutical crimes, doctor shopping, fraud, trafficking and more. Currently Dan is the Training and Education Director at NADDI (National Association of Drug Di…
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Hon Mary Bono Powerful Advocate for Addiction Prevention
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28:21A successful businesswoman and well-known political leader, Congresswoman Mary Bono (ret.) was hailed as the "embodiment of powerful American womanhood" by the Washington Times, rising to become Chairman of the influential U.S. House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade. In April of 2022, Mary was awarded the prestigious Distinguished …
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Julieta Santagostino Working for a Drug Free World
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30:58Julieta's powerful journey from the border town of Juarez, Mexico, to becoming a relentless advocate for drug education is nothing short of inspiring. Growing up in a community deeply affected by drug abuse, she witnessed firsthand not only the devastating impact on individuals but the ripple effect it had on entire neighborhoods. Realizing the urg…
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Lang Martinez Sober and Giving Back Living his Best Life
44:25
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44:25Lang Martinez, a resident of Los Angeles, CA, has successfully transformed his life's challenges into a compelling narrative of resilience. As a Trauma Survivor, Unconventional Advocate, Recovery Mentor, Hope Dealer and Speaker. Martinez leverages his experiences of sexual abuse and rape as a minor to advocate for the homeless, employing a peer-to-…
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DeDee Pfeiffer - Actress and Activist in Helping Others in Addiction
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35:02Dedee Pfeiffer, celebrated actress and younger sister of Michelle Pfeiffer, is known for her roles in hit shows like *Cybill* and *For Your Love* and her recent return to television as Denise Brisbane in ABC's *Big Sky.* But Dedee's journey is far more compelling than her screen credits alone. After stepping away from Hollywood for a decade to conf…
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Jackie Siegel - Helping Others with Victorias Voice
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27:20Jackie Siegel is best known for her role in the award-winning documentary feature, Queen of Versailles (Magnolia Pictures), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012. A little back story: Jackie earned the "Queen" moniker when a decade ago, she and husband, David Siegel, began an extravagant project to build the largest private residenc…
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Denise Barnes is a devoted mother of three, married to a wonderful Christian husband, and a proud native of San Diego, California. Her family, deeply rooted in their love for surfing and faith, faced an unimaginable tragedy this year when her youngest son was found overdosing on a Xanax laced with fentanyl. Despite Narcan being administered, 911 wa…
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Rev Melissa Hayward Tucker Faith Overcoming Addiction's Chains
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29:55Melissa Hayward-Tucker was caught in the grip of addiction for years, a victim of drugs and alcohol from her early teens. Growing up in a turbulent world of abandonment, domestic violence, and abuse, she faced trauma most never know. By age fourteen, she was using crack cocaine, and her life spiraled into darkness on the dangerous streets of Housto…
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Lance Dyer - Turning his Grief to Fight Against Synthetics
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51:39In 2012, 14-year-old Dakota Dyer tragically took his own life after trying a synthetic drug. His father, Lance Dyer, was determined to prevent other families from experiencing this devastation. Confronted with the growing scourge of synthetic drugs - marketed as "safe" alternatives to marijuana - Lance fought back. Using investigative skills honed …
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Lauren Sisler From Grief to Greatness Shatterproof
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39:25Lauren Sisler is an Emmy Award-winning sports broadcaster, ESPN sideline reporter, author, and keynote speaker known for her sideline shimmy. After landing her dream career with ESPN, reporting on college football and gymnastics, she began to open up about a story she once kept hidden: losing her parents to opioid addiction. Through sharing her sto…
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Marcel Gemme Drug Education Child Approved
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32:55Marcel Gemme is a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Specialist (DATS) and a member of NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals who concentrates on helping families find help for their loved ones. He is the founder and CEO of DRS, which includes Addicted.org and Drugrehab.ca, two websites that have helped thousands of people find treatment for s…
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Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland - Drugs at the Southern Border
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32:15Thaddeus’ service to this country began its course while proudly serving in the United States Air Force. He served on the Terrell County Independent School District School Board for eight years and as the Board President four of those years. His viewpoint: “Students and our school's educators are at the forefront of our nations foundation. Texas mu…
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Dr. Tracy Strawberry - Healing Others with Courage
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35:55Dr. Tracy Strawberry is an international speaker, published author, CEO, and wife of baseball legend Darryl Strawberry. After many years of battling addiction, alcoholism and other life controlling issues, Tracy surrendered her life to Jesus Christ and experienced a radical life transformation through the power of God and the process of change. By …
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Emmy Winning Celebrity Chef Andrew Zimmern Writer Speaker Former Addict On Overcoming Addiction
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45:57Andrew Zimmern knew from a young age he wanted a career in food. After attending The Dalton School and Vassar College, he cooked in New York City restaurants for Anne Rosenzweig, Joachim Splichal and Thomas Keller, amongst others. Andrew helped open and run a dozen restaurants, and at the same time was also an addict spiraling out of control. After…
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Brace yourself for a fascinating episode of **The Addiction Podcast - Point of No Return**, featuring the Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist, **Barry Meier**, as we peel back the layers of the opioid crisis, examining its roots, aftermath, and the unsettling role played by the Sackler family and their empire, Purdue Pharma. Meier also …
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Leann Blaskowsky - Marijuana and the Unborn Child
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47:38Leeann Blaskowsky is a board-certified neonatal nurse practitioner. In her words: since 2009 I have been living and working in Colorado, and I am faced, almost daily, with counseling families about marijuana use during pregnancy and breastfeeding. My nursing education began with an Associates degree waaay back in 1984, continuing to a Bachelors and…
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Lunden Roberts My Life Inside Hunter Biden's Addiction
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23:41Lunden Roberts is a mother, author, and financial officer from Batesville, AR. Her all-star basketball career culminated at Arkansas State University, where she was a McDonalds All-American Nominee shooting guard and studied criminal justice and psychology. Roberts went on to Washington, D.C. for the most prestigious CSI training in the country, wh…
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Jim Willfred is a man with extensive life experiences that have fueled his insatiable passion to help those afflicted with substance use disorders and to support other parents in avoiding the pain of losing a child as he has. Jim struggled with substance use disorder for 20 years until he broke free in 2004. He was honored with the Individual Achie…
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John Bitinas A Narconon Success Now Clean and Sober
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46:23John Bitinas is a native of New England, an entrepreneur, public speaker and young guy who has just been wildly successful after getting his life back from addiction. John has been clean and sober now for over 18 years, in that time he has built a successful business, found and married the love of his life and personally spoke to over 250,000 peopl…
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Into Light Project Using Art to Heal the Loss Theresa Clower and Debbie Simon
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29:22he tragic loss of her son, Devin, in Feb 2018 to an accidental drug overdose was the catalyst for INTO LIGHT Project. Through the simple act of drawing, Theresa discovered the power of art and storytelling to change minds and hearts. The INTO LIGHT Project, while born out of tragedy, has provided Theresa with an opportunity to shed light on those l…
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Anne Fundners Tragic Story The Deadly Cost of Open Borders
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26:12Anne Elizabeth Fundner lost her son Weston to fentanyl poisoning in 2022. She blames the current administration for the opening of the borders for the death of her son. Anne Fundner shared that Weston was a really good kid, and she and her family did everything right. They involved him in sports, and Anne was an active room mom. Their relationship …
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Charlotte Bismuth Advocating for the Victims of the Opioid Pandemic
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35:47Charlotte Bismuth was an attorney who started her career as a litigation associate. After joining the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor in 2010, she began investigating a doctor who was illegally overprescribing pain medications. After months of investigation, Dr. Li was finally convicted of 2 counts of murder and over 90 other counts. Whi…
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Darryl Strawberry Sharing My Spiritual Healing and Recovery
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32:55Darryl Strawberry is described as a baseball legend by many who have been dazzled by the dynamics of his game. His many accomplishments in the major leagues include four World Series titles, eight All-Star Game appearances, and a nomination to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004. He has earned the legendary nicknames and phrases of one of th…
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Ryan Leaf Former NFL Giving Back in a Big Way
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31:40Ryan David Leaf champions those battling mental and behavioral health issues, urging us to rethink mental health and addiction. He aims to crush the stigma, declaring, "asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness." As a former quarterback, Leaf's career at Washington State was stellar: Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year (1997), First Team …
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Steven May reflected on his legal journey, noting that despite losing the case on a technical motion to dismiss, the experience during discovery was profoundly enlightening. His case had traversed through various stages, including a Supreme Court review before ultimately being dismissed due to what he deemed an unfortunate technicality. According t…
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Rick Mountcastle and Ed Bisch Forcing the Sacklers to Admit Guilt
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48:23Ed Bisch's son died of an overdose of Oxycontin. Ed didn't sit by. He started researching Oxycontin and its manufacturer - Purdue Pharma; AND the family behind it - The Sacklers. He has been fighting this battle for years and doesn't see giving up until both the company and the family are made to take responsibility for the countless deaths due to …
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David Sanchez Creating Healthier Safer and Drug Free Communities
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33:40Born 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 addiction, and then in 2014 when he began building o…
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Laura Stack Johnny's Ambassadors Educating about the New Marijuana
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43:51Johnny Stack was born on February 7, 2000 and died by suicide on November 20, 2019 at the age of 19. He was an incredibly intelligent, funny, charming, handsome young man, which you can see in his tribute video. We are a normal suburban family and did normal family things. He had a happy life, a 4.0 GPA with a scholarship to college, and a family w…
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Dr Ken Finn An Evidenced Based Approach to Marijuana
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43:33We've talked about marijuana many times on the podcast and noted that quite a few of the former addicts started their drug path with marijuana. In this episode, Dr. Kenneth Finn from Colorado gives us the facts about the use of marijuana as pain medication as well as it's adverse effects on young adults. Dr. Finn used slides during his interview so…
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Philip Eil is an award-winning freelance journalist based in his hometown, Providence, Rhode Island. He is the former news editor of the alt-weekly newspaper, The Providence Phoenix. Since the paper’s close in 2014, he has contributed to The Atlantic, Men’s Health, the Boston Globe, Huffington Post, and the Columbia Journalism Review, among other o…
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Michael DeLeon Dangerous Times for Drugging Kids
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33:43Michael 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 r…
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Navarone Garcia A Difficult Journey to Sobriety
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31:07Navarone Garcia is Priscilla Presley’s son. Navarone Garibaldi Garcia (born March 1, 1987) is an American musician who serves as the lead singer of Them Guns. Them Guns is a Los Angeles-based rock band made up of members Garcia (guitar/lead vocals), Kyle Hamood (lead guitar/vocals/keys), Bobby Vega (drums), and Chuck Holiday (bass). Santa Cruz Wave…
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Barbie Rivera Author Educator Mom Freedom Fighter Enough is Enough
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54:36About 29 years ago, a public school teacher told Barbie Rivera that her 6 year old son had a mental disorder and she needed to put him on a mind altering drug - Ritalin. Barbie thought that was nutty as her son was very bright, normal and already bilingual. She started home schooling him now has her own school - called HELP Miami. Her story of how …
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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, …
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Duke Rumely Former Addict now Providing Safe and Sober Events
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49:40Duke Rumely is a former alcoholic who has been sober since 1989. Since then he realized that what was needed at concerts and sporting events was an area for those who are sober and trying to remain that way. He founded Sober AF Entertainment and is making great strides in leading the sober movement - making sober the popular to be for young and old…
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Paula Santos Young Losing her Son to Fentanyl Fuels Her Fight
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43:07Paula Santos Young's world shattered when her beloved oldest son's life was stolen in March 2022 - poisoned by fentanyl-laced marijuana from someone he trusted. With his death, Paula's motherly instincts kicked into high gear. Now she's on a crusade, roaring from every platform she can find to wake up officials and communities to the fentanyl crisi…
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Marshall Faulk - Former NFL Hall of Famer and Leader in Drug Education
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31:56This weekend, we are attending a Drug Free Heroes event in Clearwater Florida that will have Marshall Faulk as one of the speakers. We are excited to hear about how he continues to educate kids on drugs and promote the idea of living drug free - even in tough sports like football. We are republishing our interview with Marshall from 2020. Marshall …
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Crystal Meth and the Gay Community Dallas Bragg
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32:31Dr. Dallas Bragg launched his Sobriety Coaching business in January 2023 to help gay men break free from addictive behavior and create life past addiction. After struggling with a crystal meth addiction, he decided to begin his sobriety journey on August 4, 2018. Since then, he and his two kids have rebuilt their lives together. Now, blending spiri…
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Grant Cardone Billionaire Entrepreneur Inspirational Speaker Former Addict
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33:43Grant Cardone is an American businessman, Equity Fund Manager ($4B Assets Under Management), Real Estate Investor, Business author and Founder of 10X Growth Conference, 10X Health System, Cardone Ventures & 10X Studios. Also author of seven best selling business books, creator of Cardone U online education and The 10X Growth Conferences (the larges…
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Samantha Bushika Progressing not Perfecting
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25:07Samantha Bushika is a survivor with a story she finds inspirational, one that has already saved lives. She celebrates eight years of sobriety in March, marking a journey away from a lifelong addiction to using and selling heroin. Her battle with addiction led her into an unjust justice system, where she became a scapegoat in her small Vermont town'…
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Amy Ronshausen is the Executive Director of both Drug Free America Foundation, Inc. and Save Our Society From Drugs (S.O.S.), national nonprofit organizations that work to defeat drug legalization attempts, promote sound drug policies, and prevent drug use, abuse and addiction. Mrs. Ronshausen has dedicated most of her adult life to the work of red…
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Bobby Wiggins Turning Addiction into a Lifetime of Helping Others
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52:44Bobby Wiggins is a beacon of hope and transformation, rising from the depths of addiction to become a tireless advocate for recovery. Since finding his own path to sobriety through the Narconon Program in 1977, Bobby has dedicated his life to helping others break free from the chains of substance abuse. For nearly four decades, Bobby has immersed h…
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Michael Gray Fentanyl and the Poisoning of America
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44:22Michael Gray is the CEO of Actus Analytical, Inc., which develops spectroscopy solutions for public safety compliance, illicit drug detection, agricultural productivity, and other applications. Michael and his wife Nancy founded The Actus Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, in 2018. The Actus Foundation advocates for solutions to treat…
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Loretta Boesing Advocate for Safe Medications
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35:14Loretta Boesing is the founder of Unite For Safe Medications. Unite for Safe Medications seeks to save lives and advance patient outcomes by improving the quality, safety, and accessibility of pharmaceutical care. Loretta's advocacy began after her son received a liver transplant after his liver failed after contracting the flu. She uncovered the m…
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Ricki Friedman Stepping Away from Adderall
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40:58Ricki Friedman is a motivational speaker, visionary, educator, and podcaster who takes you on the walk with her as she embarks on a life-changing journey of growth, healing, and expansion. Her humor, way with words, wisdom, and vulnerability make you feel seen, heard, and ready to transform your life, live your truth and walk towards your next leve…
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Ed Bisch Grieving Father Takes On Purdue Pharma and The Sacklers
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53:55This is a replay of an interview we did with Ed Bisch in 2021. Ed was the first real activist to come on our podcast and since then, he has introduced us to countless others who are fighting this fight. Ed Bisch lost his son, Eddie, to an oxycontin overdose (he took one pill) in 2001. While Ed grieved the loss of his son, he also took notice - neve…
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Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland Drug Trafficking at the Southern Border
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38:57Thaddeus’ service to this country began its course while proudly serving in the United States Air Force. He served on the Terrell County Independent School District School Board for eight years and as the Board President four of those years. His viewpoint: “Students and our school's educators are at the forefront of our nations foundation. Texas mu…
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