Affected Families and Friends Podcast Episode 2: Michael

At the time of this production, Michael was a Senior Master Sargent in the US Air Force on active duty and preparing for retirement after a 21 year career.  In this episode, he shares his journey through substance use disorder and offers insight in to how his family was affected.

Residing in northern Colorado, he is writing and recording music, and performing with his band, Vegas Valley Drive.  His music is a healing, creative outlet for him.  The song Brake Park Reverse, linked below, is very much influenced by the trials of his substance use.

 

 

- LISTEN -

VEGAS VALLEY DRIVE - BRAKE PARK REVERSE

MORE FROM VEGAS VALLEY DRIVE

 

 

SOME RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Safe Medication Use, Storage and Disposal
     ▪ TakeMedsSeriously
          • https://takemedsseriously.org/ 

Family Support
     ▪ CRAFT Colorado
          • https://bha.colorado.gov/behavioral-health/CRAFT 
     ▪ Serenity Recovery Connection
          • https://srchope.org/ 
     ▪ Al-Anon and Nar-Anon
           • https://al-anon-co.org/  
           • https://www.nar-anon.org/find-a-meeting 
     ▪ Forward Together Colorado
          • https://parents.forwardtogetherco.com/

Overdose Prevention
     ▪ Bring Naloxone Home
          • https://bringnaloxonehome.org/ 
     ▪ Never Use Alone Hotline
          • https://neverusealone.com/ 
          • 1-800-484-3731
     ▪ Canary—Prevent Overdose app
          • https://apps.apple.com/us/app/canary-prevent-overdose/id1396426874 

Colorado’s Good Samaritan Law

“The 911 Good Samaritan Law states that a person is immune from criminal prosecution for an offense when the person reports, in good faith, an emergency drug or alcohol overdose even to a law enforcement officer, to the 911 system, or to a medical provider. This same immunity applies to persons who remain at the scene of the event until a law enforcement officer or an emergency medical responder arrives, or if the person remains at the facilities of the medical provider until a law enforcement officer, emergency medical responder, or medical provider arrives. The immunity described above also extends to the person who suffered the emergency drug or alcohol overdose event.”

 

DOWNLOAD THE FULL AFFWG RESOURCE GUIDE

 

ABOUT THE AFFECTED FAMILIES AND FRIENDS PODCAST SERIES

The Affected Families and Friends Podcast is a three-part series on substance use disorder presented by the University of Colorado’s Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention, Affected Families and Friends Work Group and produced in the Veterans Voice studio located on the campus of Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

 

 

MEET SARAH WERNER AND TRACEY RITTER

Meet your moderators for this series, Sarah Werner (L), and Tracey Ritter (R). They are the co-chairs for the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention’s work group called, “Affected Families and Friends.” 

The work group provides opportunities for friends and family to share hope, raise awareness and reduce the stigma associated with substance use disorder. Both have lost loved ones to substance use.  For Tracey, her son Evan.  For Sarah, her nephew Jonathan. 

Both have chosen to turn their pain into purpose. Sarah is on the board of the SAFE Project, which is an organization that aims to support action that will prevent fatal drug overdoses. Tracey is a Family Support Specialist with Advocates for Recovery, and has even lobbied with our Attorney General’s office for change in our state.

 

 

The Affected Families and Friends podcast series was produced in the Veterans Voice studio located on the campus of Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center in Colorado Springs, CO, in cooperation with the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention, Affected Families and Friends Work Group, and the the team of Ms. Sarah Werner, Ms. Tracey Ritter and Ms. Hilary Bryant.