About DRS

DRS has no affiliation with any treatment provider. Every visitor is free to contact any program directly, there’s never any obligation to call our hotline or attend a specific treatment. When you reach out for help, the choice is entirely yours.

At DRS, our mission is to connect you with reliable, ethical, and high-quality resources for substance use treatment. We never list programs we wouldn’t recommend to one of our own loved ones. Be cautious of facilities that promise a quick fix or immediately focus on your finances, both can signal that your best interests aren’t their priority.

Every piece of educational content on Addicted.org is written or reviewed by professionals with firsthand experience in addiction care. Our medical review team, led by Dr. Rohit Adi (MD) and Michael Leach (CCMA), ensures all information reflects the latest research, evidence-based practices, and public health data.

Content is updated regularly, fact-checked, and guided by reputable sources like SAMHSA, NIDA, and peer-reviewed journals.

Our team has spent thousands of hours researching to build one of the most complete and ethical directories of addiction treatment providers in North America. Each listing is vetted, verified, and continuously reviewed to ensure accuracy and trust. Our team continuously reviews centers to ensure the information you seek is up to date. If you spot an error, our editorial team welcomes corrections directly at communications@addicted.org and we act promptly to review and update it.

While helping people find recovery is at the heart of what we do, education and prevention are just as vital. Recovery begins with knowledge. Many of our team members have lived or worked through addiction firsthand, that perspective shapes everything we create. Through this experience, we develop resources that inform, empower, and prevent addiction before it starts, always grounded in empathy and real-world understanding.

For over 20 years, Marcel Gemme has dedicated his life to helping people overcome addiction and rebuild their lives. His journey began in 2000 as an intake counselor at a drug rehabilitation center, where he saw firsthand how overwhelming and isolating the recovery process can be. Determined to reach more people than he could one-on-one, Marcel launched his first addiction resource website in 2004. As the need for reliable information and ethical guidance grew, he founded Drug Rehab Services (DRS) in 2009 and created Addicted.org, now one of North America’s leading hubs for substance use resources.

Marcel’s vision for DRS is built on three pillars, education, prevention, and rehabilitation, reflecting his belief that recovery begins with understanding and compassion. Over the years, his work has helped thousands of families find trustworthy information, ethical treatment options, and renewed hope for recovery.

Since the inception of DRS, Nicole Landry has been an integral part of its mission to help individuals and families overcome life’s challenges with compassion and understanding. Married to founder Marcel Gemme, she spent over 15 years working as a counselor, providing guidance and practical solutions to life’s challenges. Her experience also includes several years as a counselor in a rehabilitation center, where she witnessed the life-changing impact of recovery firsthand. This inspired her to expand her reach and dedicate her career to addressing addiction on a broader scale as DRS’s Director of Finance.

Deeply humanitarian and family-oriented, Nicole believes in creating meaningful change that extends beyond her work. She is passionate about helping others and is driven by the vision of building a better future for her daughters and granddaughters, one rooted in empathy, education, and the belief that every person deserves the chance to heal and thrive.

Michael Leach is a Certified Clinical Medical Assistant who has worked in addiction treatment for nearly a decade. Before joining DRS, he served as Director of Rehabilitation at New Life Retreat in Louisiana and trained under board-certified Internal Medicine physician Dr. Rohit Adi. His background includes working directly with patients through detox and withdrawal, supporting families, and managing treatment programs with an emphasis on safety and quality care.

Having overcome addiction himself, Michael brings rare insight and empathy to his work. He understands the challenges of recovery from both sides, as a former patient and as a professional. This dual perspective allows him to bridge the gap between those seeking help and the clinicians who provide it. Today, Michael uses his clinical expertise and leadership experience to strengthen DRS’s educational content.

Marie Garceau has been part of DRS since its early days, driven by a lifelong passion for helping others. Over the years, she has played a key role in the growth of the company and has witnessed firsthand how accessible information and compassion can change lives. Her dedication and leadership have helped DRS grow from a small team into a trusted voice in the addiction recovery field.

Known for her organization, precision, and problem-solving mindset, Marie thrives on improving systems and finding innovative ways to serve the community. She’s passionate about staying ahead of technological change and ensuring DRS continues to evolve to meet people’s needs. When she’s not working, Marie enjoys painting, building projects, walking, and spending time with her daughter, Elora: her greatest inspiration.

Karine Gemme joined DRS in 2017 as Website Quality Manager, where her strong attention to detail and ability to quickly learn new systems help ensure accuracy, reliability, and consistency across all online resources. Her commitment to maintaining high standards supports DRS’s goal of providing trustworthy information to those seeking help.

Claudia Gemme joined DRS in 2017 and has since advanced to Website Developer, overseeing both the Addicted.org and SUPE (Substance Use Prevention Education) websites. Combining her technical expertise with creativity, she has contributed to the SUPE curriculum through animation and video editing. Passionate about innovation, Claudia uses technology as a tool to inspire awareness, education, and positive change.

Since 2017, Vicky Gemme has served as Public Relations Coordinator for DRS, dedicated to promoting awareness and building community connections. Guided by her belief in creating a better world through service, Vicky volunteers much of her free time to support local initiatives and continues to strengthen DRS’s outreach and educational efforts.

Nickolaus Hayes has spent over 15 years researching and writing about substance use disorders, combining professional insight with lived experience. In recovery himself, Nickolaus turned his own experience into purpose, dedicating his career to helping individuals and families better understand addiction, treatment options, and recovery pathways.

He began his career at the same rehab center where he received treatment, working as an intake counselor and helping families navigate the often-confusing treatment process. His contributions to Addicted.org continue to serve readers seeking clear information on addiction and recovery.

Robert Newman is an Internationally Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor, Prevention Specialist, and Certified Intervention Professional with the IC&RC. His deep commitment to helping others comes from personal experience, overcoming his own struggles with addiction that began in his teens and led to years of hardship before finding lasting recovery. After completing a successful long-term rehabilitation program, Robert dedicated his life to education and prevention, teaching hundreds of thousands of people across multiple states about the dangers of substance use and helping countless individuals find treatment. His firsthand experience, professional training, and compassionate approach make him a powerful advocate for recovery and prevention.

Sheila Sanchez is the founder and operator of Connecticut Bail Bonds Group, where she brings over 15 years of experience helping individuals regain freedom and access the support they need. As the first bondsman in Connecticut to earn certification from the CCAR Recovery Coach Academy, Sheila bridges the gap between the bail industry and addiction recovery, advocating for compassion and reform within the criminal justice system. Fluent in English and Spanish, she leads a team that understands firsthand how empathy and proper guidance can change lives. Through her work, Sheila continues to promote second chances and provide hope to those seeking a path toward sobriety and stability.

Jan Rader spent 27 years with the Huntington Fire Department in West Virginia, becoming the first woman to lead a career fire department in the state and a national voice on America’s opioid crisis. Since stepping down as fire chief in 2022, she has served as Director of the Huntington Mayor’s Council on Public Health and Drug Control Policy. Her career has taken her from responding to overdose calls in the field to testifying at the federal opioid trial, appearing in the Oscar-nominated Netflix documentary Heroin(e), and being named to TIME’s 100 Most Influential People list in 2018. She built the Quick Response Team model that visits overdose survivors within 72 hours to offer treatment options, an approach since studied in peer-reviewed research and replicated across the country. Under the combined community response work she helped lead, Huntington’s overdose deaths dropped 50%. Her reviews on Addicted.org focus on opioid-related content, informed by decades of frontline experience with the epidemic and its impact on communities.

Lt. Mike Hotz has served with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department since 2010 and currently leads the MNPD Overdose Unit, which he built from the ground up in 2019 to investigate drug overdose deaths and connect people to treatment resources. Promoted to Lieutenant in 2025, he brings a law enforcement and community response perspective shaped by direct work with the opioid crisis on Nashville’s streets. He also owns and operates CI2 (Clandestine Investigation Instruction), a training organization that travels the country teaching on narcotics investigations and drug overdose death investigations. Before joining the MNPD, Lt. Hotz served as a Rifle Team Leader Sergeant in the US Army Infantry, deployed twice to combat, and received the Purple Heart. His reviews on Addicted.org focus on opioid-related content where his frontline experience directly informs what patients, families, and communities are actually facing.