take a look at joanne peterson. >> oxycontin, it was always the opiates.to heroin. >> unprecedented drug overdose. >> when he takes an overdose call, the usual suspect is a painkiller. many cities report a surge in heroin use. >> so many times when we talk about the opioid crisis, we talk about it in terms of dozens of people may have overdosed in a particular city or tens of thousands of people have died of drug overdoses. we talk about it from a policy perspective. but what makes this distinctive is this is an organization that recognizes not only the trauma to the individual who is dealing with substance abuse but the whole family. >> i lost my niece a couple years ago to an overdose. >> i'm sorry. >> i lost a brother ten years ago, complications of his addictions. >> joanne peterson's family had a long and difficult history with addiction. >> i learned when my niece passed away, the most important thing to do is no matter what, tell that person you love them and kind of be there for them. i have terrible guilt because in the end, i really wasn't there

last year the cdc recorded 93,000 drug overdoses in the here's sanjay, how joanne peterson took her personalment. >> oxycontin. it was always the opiates. and then, they would turn to heroin. >> sometimes when we talk about the opioid crvcrisis, we talk at it from a policy perspective. what makes this distinctive is this is an organization that recognizes, not only the trauma to the individual, who is dealing with substance abuse, but the whole family. >> i lost a brother. ten years ago, complication of his addictions. >> reporter: joanne peterson's family had a long and difficult history with addiction. i learned when my niece passed away, the most important thing you do, is no matter what, you tell that person you love them and you're there for them. i wasn't there for her in the very end. and it haunts me. it wasn't that i didn't want to be. it was that, i knew i couldn't fix her problem or change it. you know, she just kind of disappeared. and then, i got the call, that she was in beth israel hospital, on life support. that haunts me. >> it was another stig in a of the struggle, until sh

. >> joann peterson's family is dealing with addiction. >> i have terrible gift because in the end, iy wasn't there for them in the end and it haunts me. it wasn't that i didn't want to be. i knew i couldn't fix her problem or change it. she just disappeared and i got a call she was in beth israel hospital on life support. so that haunts me. >> it was another part of the struggle with the stigma of substance abuse she dealt with most of her life, until she met others like her at a community meeting. >> i started to say, let's start meeting in. >> in 2004, learn to cope was born. >> we are there to help the family and remind the family that no matter what, you're going to be okay, and i had so many people say to me, they feel grateful that they were a member of a peer group like learn to cope because they understood the disease. i know a mom, her son had cancer, he had been prescribed oxycontin. he was in pain, and he turned to heroin. she said, she missed his cancer. she said, everyone loved him then. no one gives anything about him now. >> after 20 years of covering the stories, i st

. >> joann peterson's family had a long and difficult history with addiction. >> i learned when my niece most important thing to do is no matter what tell that person you love them and kind of be there for them. i have terrible guilt because in the end i really wasn't there for her in the very end, and it haunts me. and it wasn't that i didn't want to be, it was that i knew i couldn't fix her problem or change it. you know, she just kind of disappeared and then i got a call that she was in beth israel hospital on life support. so that haunts me. >> it was another part of the struggle with the stigma of substance abuse that she had dealt with for most of her life until she met other families like her at a community meeting about drug overdoses. i started saying to people, let's start meeting. >> in 2004, learn to cope was born. >> we're there to help the family and remind the family that no matter what, you're going to be okay. and i've had so many people say to me they feel grateful that they were a member of a peer group like learn to cope because they understood the disease. i know a m

. >> joanne peterson's family had a long and difficult history of with addiction. >> i learned when myimportant thing to do is no matter what tell that person you love them and kind of be there for them. i have terrible guilt because in the end i really wasn't there for her in the very end. and it haunts me. it wasn't that i didn't want to be. it was that i knew that i couldn't fix her problem or change it. she just kind of disappeared and then i got a call that she was in beth israel hospital on life support. so that haunts me. >> reporter: it was another part of the struggle with the stigma of substance abuse she had dealt with most of her life. until she met other families like her at a community meeting about drug overdoses. >> i started saying to people, let's start meeting. >> reporter: in 2004 learn to cope was born. >> we are there to help the family and remind the family that no matter what you are going to be okay. and i have had so many people say to me they have feel grateful that they were a member of a peer group like learn to cope because they understood the disease. i k