Listen to your body.

Research has shown that when access to naloxone (Narcan) is expanded, fatal opioid overdoses fall dramatically - as much as 27%[.1] While some people may not understand the concept of saving someone who is actively using substances that can and likely will take their life, they should be aware that for each person whose life is saved by Naloxone, it gives them a chance at recovery - after all you cannot treat a corpse.

A person could visit a pain clinic, pay a couple of hundred dollars in cash (it was a cash-only business) and leave with 200 Oxycontin 30’s and a hundred or so Xanax. No exam, no x-ray or MRI, no questions, just have cash and a desire for pills.

I’m sure there’s a healthy amount of skepticism about my mental state given that in my corporate job I was traveling to places like Hawaii on a regular basis and had a great team of people working for, and around, me. I was at the stage in my career where I wasn’t afraid to speak up, disagree, be passionate, fight for my clients, and my team, and from the outside had that “glamorous” job that people might strive for.