DSquared Interview With Prescription Addiction Radio

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Host: Well, you have one fan.  We have a fan on the line.  We have an individual that works closely with Suncoast.  Kelsey.  Kelsey, are you on the line right now?

Kelsey: Hi, yeah I am.

Host: Hey, thanks for joining us – Prescription Addiction Radio Show.  We’re, of course, in Clearwater Florida.  Where you calling from?

Kelsey: I’m in Delray Beach.

Host:  See, Suncoast is known everywhere.  And I’ve got it here, you’re with DSquared Media? Is that correct?

Kelsey: That’s correct, yes.

Host: In DSquared Media.  How did you get involved with Suncoast?  I’m assuming you do business with Suncoast.

Kelsey: Yeah.  Heather had contacted me – Heather works over at Suncoast in their marketing department.  And she had contact me to do some work, wanted to know if we’d be interested in sponsoring them for the golf tournament and so we’ve been doing some work with them.  Just advertising work and some graphic design stuff and became a sponsor for the golf tournament.

Host: Well, it’s for a good cause.  Can you think of a better cause than trying to help someone out…?

Kelsey: Absolutely not.  I know it’s definitely close to our hearts.  Everyone at DSquared is somehow closely affected by addiction and the recovery community and so it’s definitely something we wanted to be involved in.

Host: Well, Delray Beach, you’re like at ground zero for so many drug problems.

Kelsey: Yeah, definitely.

Host: I just read… Did you know that for some reason South Florida – they were the start of methaqualu like 35 years ago.  And then OxyContin came along and oxycodone.  Any ideas why South Florida is ground zero for what’s new on the drug scene?

Kelsey: You know, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that – you know there are a lot of treatment centers in Florida.  For one, everybody wants to come to Florida.  There’s palm trees and sunshine and beaches, so I think it probably had a lot to do with people coming here to get better and a lot of those people are vulnerable and so it’s easier to reach those people to do the wrong thing sometimes instead of to do the right thing.  They end up going down the wrong path and getting on – back on drugs – instead of staying as part of the recovery community.  So, you have both halves of it here in Delray.  There are a lot of people who are doing the right thing and have turned their lives around.  But then, all around South Florida, there’s just a lot of doctor shopping, I know, and “pill mills” where people will just go to get prescriptions and sell them to the vulnerable kids that are here to maybe do something different with their lives.

Host: Well, you’re seeing that first hand there in Delray.  You’re part of what – you’re close to Fort Lauderdale in Broward County?

Kelsey: Yeah

Host: That’s… that’s that area…

Kelsey: Yeah, we’re right between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm.

Host: Did you follow that drug trial that just took place?  I think it was real close to you – where those two doctors were part of the pill mill?

Kelsey: No, I didn’t.

Host: And they were…I’m getting off topic. But I’m pretty sure it’s down there in that South Florida area.

Kelsey: I wouldn’t be surprised.

Host: Well, but yeah, you’re familiar with the pill mills being in… well there were eight doctors that pleaded guilty to this one pill mill, but two decided to plead not guilty and they found a jury to let these two go off.  It was very frustrating to read about that.

Kelsey: Wow

Host: Are you a golfer?

Kelsey: No, I don’t.  My grandpa was an avid golfer though, so I definitely enjoy being a part of all this.  It brings back good memories.

Host: So you been working with Suncoast for quite a while, or was it just the golf tournament that brought you guys together?

Kelsey:  It was the golf tournament, but I think we have plans to continue our business relationship in here the future.

Host: You’d never heard about the radio show, had you?

Kelsey: I hadn’t, but I’m glad I learned.

Host: A lot of things going on.  You know, when you see the radio show site – I’m assuming you’ve been on the internet and found it.

Kelsey: Yes

Host: You know, we got the blogs and we’re doing, we’ve got over two hundred blogs there.  Has anyone told you about the BanOxyContin.com site?

Kelsey: No

Host: There’s about twelve thousand four hundred signatures of people that are concerned about what we call the symbol.  The symbol of the epidemic is, by the radio show standards, is OxyContin.  That’s when the real growth of the prescription drug epidemic took place – after OxyContin started marketing and selling.

Well, when you see that – you see the radio site, you see what Suncoast is doing, you see that their sponsoring a golf tournament, you see that the money’s going for a good cause – any reason not to get a good feeling, to become part of the Suncoast family?

Kelsey: I mean, absolutely not.  I don’t see… I’ve seen amazing things come out of people coming down here to turn their lives around.  It always ends up being those people that reach out and start helping other people around them.  I know a lot of people at Suncoast are in recovery themselves and are just doing the next right thing wherever they can to help somebody else in the same position that they once were – to be able to turn their lives around.

Host: Well, I’ve had a chance to interact with a number of people from Suncoast – starts with Tammy Strickling.  Tammy is the president of Suncoast.  Everybody… everybody is just so wonderful at that facility, so I’m glad you had a chance to be introduced.  And actually Dereck is the one who’s in-charge, he’s pushing the buttons for the golf tournament.  Dereck is the one who contacted me about it.  But I understand you hadn’t met Dereck previous to our interaction – is that correct?

Kelsey: I hadn’t, but I did watch the video, I think it’s on YouTube, about the golf tournament, when she’d originally contracted me.  And it was moving, just watching him talk about – first of all how he has a passion for golf and a passion for helping people and he gets to combine those two things to, you know, to be changed some people’s lives.

Host: I haven’t seen the video.  Dereck, how long is the video?

Kelsey: You should check it out.

Dereck: It’s probably just a couple of minutes.  It’s not any… not any…

Host: But it talks about the golf tournament?

Dereck: Yes, and I appreciate what you said, Kelsey.  It does have a lot of meaning to me and when I was able to do this, when Tammy brought the idea up to me, it was something that kind of hit me really hard and made me very very passionate about it.  It’s been great the past few years getting this golf tournament going and with support from people like you and your company – Dsquared Media – and several others that we’ll be talking to tonight, it is something that – as a community – we can, you know, we can make a difference.  A bunch of people, like myself, that went through addiction and came out on the other side to do like you said and to help out other people, I feel very very grateful to places like Suncoast Rehab and Dsquared for supporting places like Suncoast Rehab.  It’s just a great thing to do and it’s a great thing to be a part of and I appreciate you guys being a part of it as well.

Kelsey: Absolutely.  Very happy to be.

Host: You know, Kelsey, before we let you go, I have to assume that because Dsquared is part of the golf tournament, because you’re supporting the golf tournament, because you’re supporting this endeavor, as far as the drugs in the community and the growing epidemic – especially living down there in Delray Beach – any insights or ideas on how we can slow this down?

Kelsey: You know, I think the first step would be to quit prescribing medication for every problem.  I’ve seen so many people, a lot of people close to me, my family for one has been closely addicted – closely affected by addiction.  A family friend of ours lost their son – even this year – he was twenty years old – because he overdosed on prescription medication that was written to his name for a minor accident that didn’t require any kind of medication at all, really.  He went and sought it out.  Don’t get me wrong, he was looking for that.  But the fact that the doctors are so quick to write prescriptions to solve problems for anybody asking without doing any kind of research or looking into it any further is a huge problem.  I think that would be one way to at least slow it down.

Host: Well, obviously you’re on a radio show, the only one in the country right now, I would like to see this radio show grow, we’ve got to get – I call it the silent epidemic.  We’ve lost tens of thousands of people.  And everybody you talk to – Kelsey, you just shared you know someone very personally who we lost – and everybody you talk to, Kelsey, has been affected by this epidemic and yet it remains silent.  I’m always scratching my head.

Kelsey: Yeah, I know.

Host: Alright.

Kelsey: I wish there was more I could figure out to do.

Host: Kelsey, DSquared Media.  How do we find DSquared Media?  You have a website, I’m assuming.

Kelsey: Yeah, absolutely we do.  It’s DSquaredMedia.net, that’s with a “D” at the end, so D-S-Q-U-A-R-E-DMedia.net.  We do web and graphic design, you can check us out at the website.  Give me a call and I’d be happy to help anybody out.

Host: Alright, Kelsey from DSquared Media, Delray Beach.  I want to thank you so much for calling in.  Thank you for supporting the radio show.

Kelsey: Absolutely

Host: Dereck, really a compliment to…

Kelsey: I have it set to record.

Host: Dereck a compliment to have this kind of support.

Dereck: Absolutely.  I hope that we can continue to reach people willing to give a helping hand with this.  It is an epidemic and it is – it takes lives every day and at some point we all have to take responsibility and do what’s right for the people we love and our community.  Part of it, it begins with supporting something or someone that’s involved with addiction.  Get on board and make your voice heard.  It’s not going away.

Host: Alright Kelsey, thank you so much for calling in.

Kelsey: Thank you so much for having me, guys.

 

NARCONON SUNCOAST

DRUG EDUCATION AND REHABILITATION