Living, Walking Proof that Harm Reduction Works

On today's episode, I have a great conversation with my friend, Tom. We kinda go all over the place--everywhere from politics, substance use, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, WRAP, personal medicine, harm reduction, mental health issues--we do it all! I hope you enjoy our conversation and get something out of it.

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Tom Jackson's "day job" is as a Registered Peer Specialist at Western State Hospital in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, and his "night job" is as an Organizer with the Virginia Recovery Advocacy Project.  He is also an Authorized Peer Trainer, training the next generation of Hope Brokers for people in recovery from Substance Use and/or Mental Health challenges.

His upbringing through the Civil Rights movement of the 50s and 60s, the Anti-War movement of the 60s and 70s, the HIV/AIDS/LGBTQIA+ movements of the 70s, 80s and 90s, and his personal recovery since 1991 have all come together in his grassroots leadership to support and train new advocates to use a tool called Personal Narrative to engage and call others to action to fix our broken mental health and substance use treatment systems that allow hundreds of thousands of people to die from preventable overdose or suicide every year. 

He finds hope in the dedication and recovery of the clients he works with at Western, in the recovery programs he attends, and in watching others challenge the status quo that has to change to end the War on Drugs and start a War for Recovery.