Genre-bending musical chameleon Jelly Roll said he feared for "this next generation" as they face drug usage and addiction amid the country's fentanyl epidemic.
Jelly Roll, a father of two who has personally struggled with addiction, expressed his concerns over drug usage in a recent interview with People Magazine.
The rapper and singer said the country had previously faced epidemics of crack cocaine and other opioids, though had never experienced something "so deadly in such small amounts" as fentanyl, which is commonly laced into other substances. “My daughter will never experience the safety of experimenting with drugs,” Jelly said, adding he understood how "crazy" the sentiment came across. “When I was a kid, my mother would be like, ‘You're going to try everything once. Just be safe.’”
“It's not safe for any kid to be doing anything,” Jelly Roll added.
Jelly Roll cited CDC statistics which shows over 150 fentanyl-related deaths every day in the United States. “How many more people does [fentanyl] have to kill a day before we start to care, if the number right now is close to 200? I just think it's time to speak about it,” he told the outlet. “It scares me for my daughter. It scares me for my son. It scares me for this next generation. We've never seen nothing like fentanyl.”
“I think opening conversations about some of this stuff is the beginning of healing, right?” Jelly Roll said. “A lot of problems we have in America is that we just don't openly talk about the s--- that's really happening the way we should. It's kind of like once you break the ice and put them on the table, then can't ignore it much longer after that.” “I've attended more funerals than I care to share with you all [on] this committee,” Jelly said at the time. “I could sit here and cry for days about the caskets I've carried of people I loved dearly, deeply in my soul — good people, not just drug addicts. Uncles, friends, cousins, normal people, some people that just got in a car wreck and started taking a pain pill to manage it." "One thing led to the other and how fast it spirals out of control — I don't think people truly, truly understand," he told the committee. “I was a part of the problem,” he added. “I am here now standing as a man that wants to be a part of the solution.”
Last month, Jelly Roll spoke at the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on the proposed FEND Off Fentanyl Act.Loading...
