In this episode of The Hopeaholics Podcast, we sit down with Dave Marquess, creator of Relapse vs Recovery, a recovery-based card game, to discuss his extraordinary journey through addiction, incarceration, and ultimately finding purpose in sobriety.
Growing up in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood, Dave was surrounded by addiction from an early age. With both parents struggling with substance abuse, his childhood was marked by instability, chaos, and exposure to drugs. By his early teens, Dave was already experimenting with PCP, eventually spiraling into years of heroin and cocaine addiction, drug dealing, incarceration, and life-threatening experiences.
From smoking PCP before school to calling his own mother to learn how to inject heroin, Dave opens up about the devastating realities of addiction and the environment that shaped his early life. After enduring brutal withdrawals, repeated encounters with the law, and countless rock-bottom moments, he eventually reached a turning point that changed the course of his life.
Today, approaching a decade of sobriety, Dave has transformed his experiences into something meaningful. As the creator of Relapse vs Recovery, a satirical card game inspired by the realities of addiction and recovery, he's using humor, creativity, and shared experiences to bring people together and make sober living more engaging.
Throughout this conversation, we explore generational addiction, the psychological toll of substance abuse, the challenges of rebuilding a life in recovery, and how Dave turned some of his darkest experiences into a creative outlet that helps others connect, laugh, and heal.
Dave's story is a powerful reminder that no matter how far addiction takes someone, recovery is possible, and sometimes finding purpose means learning to laugh along the way.
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Instagram: @relapsevsrecoverygame
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