Grammy-nominated country star and rapper Jelly Roll delivered powerful testimony before a Senate committee hearing on Thursday speaking to the horrible impact the national fentanyl crisis has had on America.
The entertainer, whose real name is Jason DeFord, spoke about his own life and the drug problems that led to several convictions and prison sentences and how his own experience led him to become an advocate for victims of drug traffickers, Fox News reported.
Speaking to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Jan. 11, the singer noted that statistics show that there is a 72 percent chance that a person who dies from a drug overdose will have been taking fentanyl.
“It is important to establish earlier that I am a musician and that I have no political alliance. I am neither Democrat nor Republican. In fact, because of my past, my right to vote has been restricted,” the “Save Me” singer explained.
“Thus far I have never paid attention to a political race in my life. Ironically, I think that makes me the perfect person to speak about this because fentanyl transcends partisanship and ideology,” he insisted.
Jelly Roll went on to say that about 190 dies from fentanyl abuse every day. That is the equivalent of a “737 plane” at full capacity., he noted.
“Could you imagine the national media attention it would get if they were reporting that a plane was crashing every single day and killing 190 people? But because it’s 190 drug addicts, we don’t feel that way, because America has been known to bully and shame drug addicts instead of dealing and trying to understand what the actual root of the problem is,” Jelly Roll told the senators before him.
He says he has frequent contact with victims of “the disease known as addiction.”
“I’ve attended more funerals than I care to share with y’all, this committee,” he continued. “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 … how fast it spirals out of control.”
The singer added that he became a drug dealer and was “art of the problem.” But he added, “I am here now standing as a man that wants to be a part of solution.”
He also said that his wife has had past trouble with addiction. “Every day I get to look in the eyes of a victim in my household of the effects of drugs. Every single day. And every single day, I have to wonder, me and my wife, if today will be the day that I have to tell my daughter that her mother became a part of the national statistic,” he said.
Matt Perdie / Breitbart NewsJelly Roll was speaking to the committee urging the U.S. Senate to pass the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, a bi-partisan bill that targets Chinese drug suppliers and Mexican cartels.
The rapper urged the Senate to be “proactive and not reactive” in heading off the flow of illegal fentanyl into the country.
“I see fans grappling with this tragedy,” he concluded. “They seek solace and music and hope that their experiences won’t befall others. They crave reassurance. These are the people I’m here to speak for, y’all. These people crave reassurance that their elected officials actually care more about human life than they do about ideology and partisanship. I stand here as a regular member of society.”
He finished admitted that he is just a “stupid songwriter” but noted that he has “firsthand witnessed this in a way most people have not. I encourage y’all to not only pass this bill, but I encourage you to bring it up where it matters: at the kitchen table.
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