Jelly Roll testifies for anti-fentanyl support

Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Popular rapper-turned-country singer Jelly Roll, who has made recovery from drug and alcohol addiction part of his public persona, testified in a Senate hearing Thursday about the dangers of the synthetic opioid fentanyl and called on lawmakers to confront the epidemic.

"It is time for us to be proactive and not reactive," he testified. "We were reactive with crack, we were reactive with opioids and y'all are taking the first step at somebody in the Senate finally being proactive. I truly believe in my heart that this bill can help stop the supply of fentanyl."

The singer, whose real name is Jason DeFord, testified before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, chaired by Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio.

The 39-year-old musician, whose face, neck and extremities are heavily tattooed, spent a decade in and out of detention facilities starting at the age of 14 and said he now wants to be part of the solution to the opioid crisis, not part of the problem.

"I brought my community down. I hurt people," he testified before the committee. "I was the uneducated man in the kitchen playing chemists with drugs I knew absolutely nothing about just like these drug dealers are doing right now when they're mixing every drug on the market with fentanyl. And they're killing the people we love."

Brown cited statistics that show 110,000 Americans died due to unintentional drug overdoses in 2022.

The performer said 190 Americans die every day from drug overdoses, including from fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is known to be geometrically stronger than heroin but just as addictive, if not more so.

Jelly Roll took the overdose statistic and likened it to a 737 jetliner filled with passengers.

"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?" the singer said.

"But because it's 190 drug addicts, we don't feel that way," he continued. "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 with that."

Jelly Roll called on Congress to pass Brown's Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act, which would impose financial sanctions against drug traffickers in an attempt to disrupt the flow of opioids coming in from China and Mexico.

Citing the effect on drug addiction on his friends and family, he also urged Congress to adopt the FEND OFF Fentanyl Act.

"Every concert I perform, I witness the heartbreaking impact of fentanyl. I see fans grappling with this tragedy," the musician said.

"They seek solace in music and hope that their experiences won't befall others. These people crave reassurance that their elected officials actually care more about human life than they do about ideology and partisanship."