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We have received a drastic increase in phone calls from parents and family members about tragic loss due to fentanyl overdose death. After our conversation on Ep. 24 with Dr. Laura Berman whose son Samuel lost his life to a pill he purchased on snapchat, we were left heartbroken and passionate about finding, or creating, a real solution to this problem. We connected Dr. Berman with our Ep. 9 Guest, Titania Jordan who is the Chief Parent Officer at BARK technologies and they, along with others, came up with #LetParentsProtect—A petition for Snapchat, TikTok, and other social media platforms to urge them to allow parents to use third party monitoring tools like BARK to protect children online. The petition argues that in order to save lives, parents need to be the ones who make the choice about whether they want to use third party safety apps and we couldn’t agree more.
Today on The Balanced Voice we welcome Dr. Berman and Titania Jordan back to the podcast along with Dr. Berman’s husband, Samuel Chapman, Mark Berkman the CEO of the Organization for Social media Safety, and Roger Crystal, CEO of Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc and the founder of NARCAN Nasal Spray to discuss the need for better regulations on social media and the dangers of fentanyl. We beg everyone to go to link in our show notes to sign the petition and #LetParentsProtect!
More About Dr. Laura Berman & Samuel Chapman:
Dr. Berman and Sam Chapman lost their son Samuel tragically when he consumed a pill he purchased for $0.15 on Snapchat that ended up being laced with fentanyl. Through their grief, Dr. Berman and Sam have become incredible advocates for better regulations on social media and education on the dangers of fentanyl. Read more about Dr. Berman on our Ep. 24 show notes here!
More about Titania Jordan:
As CPO, Titania drives Bark’s marketing, customer acquisition, and media relations efforts and is an industry-leading source of expertise and advice for the broader community. She has extensive experience at the intersection of families and technology, formerly serving as CMO at KidsLink, co-founder/CMO at Privet, and executive director of Band of Coders Girls Academy.
Titania holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing, and enjoys painting and building some pretty sweet LEGO cities with her family in her downtime.
Instagram: @barktechnologies
Facebook: @barktechnologies
More about Marc Berkman:
Marc serves as the CEO of the Organization for Social Media Safety (OFSMS) where he has grown OFSMS into a prominent national consumer protection organization that has taught social media safety skills to thousands of students, parents, and educators across the country and developed essential social media safety legislation like Jordan's Law, the nation's first law to deter social media-motivated violence. Previously, Marc served for over a decade as a senior advisor to members of Congress and the California State Assembly. During his time as a legislative aide, he developed and helped pass into law numerous legislative initiatives to protect vulnerable children and families. Marc received his JD from Columbia Law School and his BA from UC Berkeley. He lives with his wife and two children in Los Angeles, CA.
Instagram: @org4socialmediasafety
Twitter: @socialmediasafety
More About Dr. Roger Crystal:
Dr. Roger Crystal is President and CEO of Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. which is developing new medicines to combat addictions and drug overdose. He is the lead inventor of the NARCAN® Nasal Spray, for the emergency treatment of opioid overdose.
Dr. Crystal is frequently featured as an addiction and substance abuse expert, including national TV appearances with prominent U.S. news media, and has testified at The White House, advising the President’s Opioid Committee. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). He is also a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, Santa Monica Bay Chapter.
Previously, Dr. Crystal served as the Chief Business Officer for ImaginAb, a venture capital-backed biotechnology company, leading the company’s efforts in immuno-oncology and managing its pharmaceutical company partnerships and licensing deals. He began his business career with roles at Goldman Sachs, A.T. Kearney, and GE Healthcare. He holds a BMedSci in Physiology and an MD from the University of Birmingham, UK and an MBA from the London Business School.
Prior to his business career, Dr. Crystal worked for several years as a surgeon, specializing in ear, nose, and throat, head and neck surgery at leading institutions including Imperial College Healthcare, London and was awarded Membership of The Royal College of Surgeons of England (MRCS). He was also an Honorary Research Fellow at University College London and has authored a number of peer-reviewed scientific articles.
Twitter: @Opiant_Pharma
Resources & Links:
Did you know that one in four young people se illicit drugs advertised for sale on social media, 34% of students report experiencing cyberbullying, and teens using social media more than 5 hours a day were found to be about 70% more likely to have suicidal thoughts? The #LetParentsProtect petition is for ALL people who believe that parents should be the ones making decisions about whether or not they want to use third party safety tools like BARK. Act now and save lives!
Thank you for following along with The Balanced Voice. The views expressed in each episode are those of the podcast guest and do not necessarily represent the views of The Balanced Voice or Crime Stoppers of Houston.
Thank you to our Episode 33 Sponsors, Brigitte and Bashar Kalai, Hallie Vanderhider, Sippi and Ajay Khurana, and Deep Water Productions.