Macklemore’s recitation of the litany of celebrities whose deaths have been linked to prescription drug and alcohol use is a familiar one. That’s Prince, Michael and Whitney, that’s Amy, Ledger and Pimp C Law enforcement officials have recently reported a disturbing trend: Fake “30s” that look like oxycodone but actually contain far more deadly opioids, such as heroin or fentanyl. The opioid tablets typically go for $20 to $30 a pop on the black market, and people who get hooked later often turn to heroin. “30s” is a reference to what has become among the most vexing street drugs in the last few years: pale blue oxycodone pills, in a 30-milligram dose. I could’ve been gone, out 30s, faded in that tub That’s more than eight times what the gun lobby spent over the same period, according to a recent investigation from the Associated Press and the Center for Public Integrity.Įxecutives at two of the companies that have been blamed for fueling the opioid crisis - John Kapoor of Insys Therapeutics and members of the Sackler family of Purdue Pharma - are indeed billionaires.Īnd we dancin’ to a song about our face goin’ numbīut I seen homies turn gray, noses draining blood Over the past decade, they spent more than $880 million on federal and state lobbying, often seeking to block measures meant to curb the opioid crisis. The makers of prescription painkillers wield significant clout on Capitol Hill and in statehouses all over the country. Hey, look, a (blistering) reference to federal lobbying made it into a rap song. Paying out Congress so we take their drugs The whole while, these billionaires, they caked up
Still, many addiction experts say the bottom line is that Suboxone saves far more lives than it takes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not tally deaths caused by these treatments for addiction, but there have been plenty of reports of deadly overdoses from Suboxone. It’s become a key tool in combatting the opioid crisis the Obama administration over the summer raised a prescribing cap to widen access to Suboxone and other buprenorphine medications.īut the drug has also been abused in and of itself, fueled by a vibrant black market and cash-only clinics that dole out the pills without proper counseling. “Subs” is a reference to Suboxone, an opioid medication that’s used to treat opioid addiction. He released the song in conjunction with this week’s television premiere of an MTV documentary in which he interviews President Obama about the opioid epidemic. Macklemore, it’s worth noting, has spoken publicly about his own experience abusing the opioid painkillers Ox圜ontin and Percocet. (In the song, featured artist Ariana DeBoo refers to a doctor as “my drug dealer” who “had the plug from Big Pharma”). It forcefully calls out Congress (as doing the business of billionaire chiefs of pharmaceutical companies), drug companies (including Ox圜ontin manufacturer Purdue Pharma), and doctors who prescribe potent painkillers and enable refill after refill. Titled “Drug Dealer,” the song parcels out blame for an opioid crisis that kills 78 Americans a day, up fourfold since 1999.
In the latest sign of how the opioid crisis is permeating popular culture, the rapper Macklemore this week put out a remarkable new song about prescription painkillers and other addictive drugs. Exclusive analysis of biotech, pharma, and the life sciences Learn More
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