Addiction
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Can Accountability Break the Cycle of Crime?
Crime entered his life before hard drugs did. As a teenager he stole cars, sold marijuana at school and repeatedly encountered law enforcement. By the age of fourteen he was…
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KUER Goes After The Other Side Academy
A recent KUER article critically examines The Other Side Academy (TOSA), focusing primarily on former participants who describe the program negatively and questioning the philosophy behind therapeutic communities. Every institution…
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The Reality of Meth Psychosis on Utah’s Streets
On the streets of downtown Salt Lake City, psychosis has become part of the landscape. People scream at invisible enemies. Some believe they are prophets. Others wander through traffic carrying…
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How Does a Person Become Homeless and Addicted? One Utah Father Explains
Back in the 1980s, most Utah parents worried about things like bad grades, skipping church, teenage drinking, or hanging around the wrong crowd. Very few parents walked through downtown Salt…
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From LDS Mission to Heroin Addiction: A Utah Man’s Descent and Recovery
More than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in a single year. That number is often repeated, rarely absorbed, and almost never understood in a way that forces real reflection.…
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Left in a Box as a Baby: Trauma, Alcoholism, and Addiction
A man abandoned as a baby builds a structured life in law enforcement, but unresolved trauma and alcoholism slowly begin to unravel it. His story raises a harder question about…
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Ritual Chocolate Tasting Class in Heber City: Inside Utah’s Bean-to-Bar Factory
Inside Ritual Chocolate’s Heber City factory, guests learn how to taste chocolate like professionals during weekly bean-to-bar classes. From Madagascar’s bright citrus notes to savory pairings with olive oil and…
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Has Utah’s Soft-on-Crime Justice Reform Made Communities Safer?
Has this “soft-on-crime” approach resulted in safer streets? SALT LAKE CITY — A decade has passed since former Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed a massive justice reform bill into law…
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A Salt Lake City Gym Uses Fitness and Community to Support Addiction Recovery
“What I think is really special about that place is that doing hard things is a way that we can become proud of ourselves,” said nursing student Vince Minutello, who…
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The Utah Village Proving Housing First Was Never Enough
Utah has spent years investing in Housing First, yet homelessness continues to rise and street conditions grow more chaotic. In the middle of this debate, a small village on Salt…
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The Hidden Struggles of Utah’s ‘Perfect’ Families
They looked like the perfect Utah family. But behind the Christmas cards and Scout badges, Peggy and Steve Ayers were facing addiction, trauma, and heartbreak.
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Why Utah’s Addiction Programs Fail After Detox
Utah’s addiction programs help people get clean, but what happens next? Without housing, jobs, or long-term support, many fall back into old habits.
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Salt Lake’s Whack-a-Mole Battle With Homeless Encampment
Salt Lake police keep clearing camps, but encampments reappear elsewhere. With no long-term solutions, the city is stuck in a whack-a-mole battle.
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Inside Utah’s $17M Magnolia Apartments: Where Compassion Turned Deadly
Magnolia Apartments were built to uplift Utah’s chronically homeless with dignity and support. Five years later, nearly half the residents are dead. What happened inside this $17 million experiment in…
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How Big Pharma Sold America the Lie That Pain Shouldn’t Exist
Is pain the enemy—or the warning we ignored? As opioid deaths rise in Utah, this investigation explores how Big Pharma’s promise of pain-free living became a deadly lie, destroying lives…
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Utah Man Rebuilds Life After 13 Stabbings and Addiction
After years of addiction and homelessness in Salt Lake City—and surviving a brutal stabbing—Jeffrey Kaiser Plante finds hope and purpose at The Other Side Academy, where recovery meets real change.