Jelly Roll, the country star who conquered his own drug addiction, has made an emotional plea to congress for a new anti-fentanyl legislation, hoping to reduce deaths related to the drug. He spoke to the Senate banking, housing and urban affairs committee and begged lawmakers to pass the Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence Off Fentanyl Act or the “Fend Off Fentanyl Act.” The legislation proposes to impose sanctions and anti-money laundering strategies to deter the deadly opioid’s flow.
In the US, fentanyl kills an estimated 200 people per day and is responsible for the deaths of more than half of people under the age of 45. Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason DeFord, said that drug dealers are mixing every drug on the market with fentanyl, and they are killing the people they love. He admitted his guilt in contributing to the problem, saying, “I brought my community down. I hurt people.” He has attended more funerals than he cares to remember and has carried the caskets of people he loved deeply in his soul. Many of these people were good and normal folks who lost their lives to fentanyl.
Jelly Roll is not the only celebrity to have suffered the deadly consequences of the drug, nor is he the only one to speak out on the topic this year. Last year, rapper Coolio died from an accidental overdose related to fentanyl, while Navarone Garibaldi, Priscilla Presley’s son, developed an unbearable addiction that nearly killed him too. He said that his mother was instrumental in helping him get clean.
As the US proposes new legislation and strategies to stem the tide of fentanyl, it’s evident that it’s going to take a huge collaborative effort to eradicate the problem fully. But with voices like Jelly Roll’s contributing to the dialogue, there is hope of change and an end to this debilitating drug
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