This week, T.J. is joined by Debra Hanby, the mother of an opioid addict who found her life’s purpose through her son’s experience.

T.J. is the host of 'Deconstructed,' formerly titled 'A Civil Assessment.' You can follow IVN's podcast channel on iTunes or SoundCloud!

The two discuss the story of Debra’s son, David Hanby. David became a heroin addict after being prescribed Vicodin for chronic pain after back surgery. Debra breaks down the spectrum, how heroin addiction is a chronic brain disease with misplaced stigma, how the opioid crisis came into being, and how recovery programs and insurance plans are currently unable to help addicts fully and completely recover.

If you wish to get in touch with Debra and join her in her cause, please send an email to our producer: kaia@IVN.us.

Debra Hanby is a sales/marketing professional, a wife and a mother of 3 young men. She has worked nation-wide and has been successful professionally, but is most proud of her family. A graduate of Western Illinois University and originally from Chicago she moved to Dayton, OH 30 years ago. Her family resides in a suburb of Dayton, which is the heart of the heroin epidemic. She has been an advocate for the Recovery Community as the opioid epidemic has touched her life personally.