Sam has a PhD in Biopsychology from the University of Georgia and was awarded a National Institute on Drug Abuse Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Pharmacology and Toxicology Department at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

He also has a 35-year history of heroin and Dilaudid use. For the first 13 years, his use was occasional. For the next 22 years, he lived with an opioid use disorder. Since 2016, he has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Broken No More/GRASP (Grief Recovery After a Substance Passing). He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas with his best buddy, Gracie (a rescued Pit Mix).