Rapper and country music star Jelly Roll appeared before U.S. lawmakers on Thursday and gave powerful testimony on the devastating impact of fentanyl on forgotten Americans.
Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason DeFord, has spoken openly about his past conviction for drug dealing and now advocates for victims of the heroin and fentanyl epidemics. He began his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee by noting that in the roughly five minutes he was allotted to speak, someone in the United States will die from a drug overdose and there is a 72% chance it will be fentanyl related.
"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 said. "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."
Jelly Roll told lawmakers that roughly 190 people die of an overdose every single day in the U.S., roughly the equivalent of a "737 plane" at full capacity.
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"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 said.
The Grammy-nominated musician said he sees the victims of the national fentanyl crisis at every one of his concerts and that he has personally been impacted by "the disease known as addiction."
"I've attended more funerals than I care to share with y'all. This committee, 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 manage it. One thing led to the other … how fast it spirals out of control," Jelly Roll said.
As a former drug dealer, Jelly Roll told Congress he was not testifying to defend the use of illegal drugs. "I was a part of the problem. I am here now standing as a man that wants to be a part of solution," he said.
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Drug dealing is not "a victimless crime," Jelly Roll said, sharing that the mother of his 15-year-old daughter is a drug addict. "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."
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, drug overdose deaths rose from 2019 to 2021, with more than 106,000 drug overdose deaths reported in 2021, the last year on record. Deaths involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl continued to rise, the agency says, with 70,601 overdose deaths reported in 2021.
Jelly Roll called on Congress to "be proactive and not reactive" in confronting these deaths. He urged lawmakers to pass the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, legislation that targets Chinese chemical suppliers and Mexican drug cartels who are trafficking fentanyl with sanctions.
"I truly believe in my heart that this bill, that this bill will stop the supply and can help stop the supply of fentanyl. But in part of being proactive, gentlemen and women and ladies, I have to be frank and tell you all that if we don't talk to the other side of Capitol Hill and stop the demand, we are going to spin our tires in the mud. Y'all are taking the first step. But I encourage you to take it outside of this room and you take it to your colleagues and your constituents and you give them the most that you can," Jelly Roll said.
"I see fans grappling with this tragedy," he said in closing. "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.
"I am a stupid songwriter, y'all. But I have 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."
