>> brangham: jonathan goyer only did it after going to detox 38 times, suffering a near-fatal heroininally, using what's considered the gold standard: medically assisted treatment-- that's methadone or other replacement drugs like suboxone or vivitrol. we visited with him and his mom at his place in providence. >> brangham: as you start slipping into addiction, you start disappearing from the family pictures? >> absolutely, including even family christmases that i couldn't make it to. >> brangham: his father died from a overdose in 2004; his brother followed a few years later. >> jonathan-- is it, goyer? >> brangham: at the depth of his own addiction just five years ago, this was him standing before a judge after crashing a stolen car, high on hallucinogenic bath salts. >> when my mother saw me on the news the next day, instead of being shocked that i was arrested, or embarrassed, she was relieved, because she knew i was alive. that's where drug addiction brought me, and that's where it brought her as well, too. >> brangham: goyer says it was his overdose that finally drove him to ch

an jonathan goyer is a recovering addict himself. anchor recovery in rhode island, a group that tries to help those struggling with addiction. many of you will recognize jonathan from our story about his group's work several weeks ago. gentlemen, welcome both to the newshour. gary mendell, let's start with you. what do you make of the president's call for this national campaign on prevention? >> to be honest, i really didn't understand it. his remarks were all based on the opioid epidemic, and the opioid epidemic is not about children trying drugs. there's clear consensus in this country that what caused this epidemic is a vast over-prescribing of prescription painkillers. in the last 15 years, the amount of pills being prescribed on an annual basis have gone up four times. and the amount of people dying of an overdose of opioids has gone up six times. it's really not related to teaching children not to use drugs. >> brangham: jonathan, what do you make of this? do you think there is some benefit of the president saying, we need the