Boston-Based Apps Help People Recovering from Addiction

BOSTON (CBS) - Drug addiction is a public health crisis in Massachusetts and across the country. Now two Boston-based start-ups are using technology to try to make a difference.

"At 18, I was a stone cold, strung out, homeless, heroin addict," says Jack Kelly who has been sober for eleven years. "I know how hard it is to go through it and how difficult it is to achieve sobriety," says Kelly.

"I've lost a lot of people close to myself who have died because of an overdose. So I guess on one hand, I've made it but a lot people haven't."

Hoping to change that, Kelly developed a smartphone app called iRecover. It went live less than a week ago and allows people struggling with addiction to find local meetings, network with others, and call out directly for help. "Right at the bottom there's a big red button that says 'call 911' if you need immediate assistance, if you're overdosing or someone you know is," says Kelly.

Nick Krasucki is a recovering alcoholic. "There's an app for runners to find each other," says Krasucki. "There's an app for alumni from colleges to find each other, for gay men to find each other but not for sober people to find each other," he adds. That, he says, is critical for people to stay sober.

Krasucki and his colleague, Beau Mann, also in recovery, created Sober Grid, a social networking app which allows members to connect all over the world. "Somebody who knows how you feel, somebody who knows how hard it is, somebody who knows how difficult it is to go to a work function where they may be serving wine," explains Krasucki.

Since its launch in April, Sober Grid has over 20,000 active members, with the hope to have a million by next summer.

Both Boston-based apps have similar missions but they say they're not in competition. "Whatever tool will help save their lives and make them better, I'm in favor of that," says Kelly.

"If we help one person improve their lives and put down their addiction to alcohol or drugs or whatever it may be," says Krasucki, "then we've met our goal."

Both apps are currently available for download and both are free. Sober Grid does have a premium paid version. iRecover hopes to eventually add a professional feature that will connect users with psychiatrists and recovery coaches.

Kelly and Krasucki say they have taken important steps to protect user privacy and confidentiality.