Rapper and songwriter, Mac Miller, was reported dead on September 7th supposedly due to an overdose. The world was shocked to hear of his passing since the artist had just released a brand new album titled Swimming. Beyond the fact that the beloved artist had recently put out a music video for the song Self Care that was centred around him being in his own coffin, and the whole word buzzing with conspiracy theories, his death brings on a bigger question, and it’s a question that makes some people uncomfortable. Why do we as a society turn our cheeks to addicts?
Miller was very upfront about his addiction issues throughout his life. In early May, Miller was arrested for a hit and run where he crashed his car into a light pole in San Fernando Valley while driving under the influence. He is quoted of talking about the crash by saying “I made a stupid mistake. I’m a human being. But it was the best thing that could have happened. Best thing that could have happened. I needed that. I needed to run into that light pole and literally have the whole thing stop.” He always rapped and wrote about substance abuse, his addiction to prescription opioid cough syrup, and his depression.
The way that our society today thinks about those struggling with addiction isn’t under a good light. Whenever a celebrity or an influencer passes away due to an overdose, the world comes together to mourn them and talk about how much they were struggling and what a great person they were. During the summer, Demi Lovato had reportedly overdosed and was revived through the use of Narcan. Narcan is an emergency medication used to revive from an opioid overdose. The world was also sent into shock after hearing about her overdose since she has been a rehabilitation icon for the past few years, talking openly about her addictive past and sobriety. She was sent so much love and prayers, people were talking about addiction, and how we choose to ignore it. And what happens after a couple of weeks? Society goes back to ignoring addiction, waiting for the next celebrity or influencer to either pass away or overdose.
As a society, we glorify and romanticize things like drugs and alcohol because it makes us seem “cool”. But in all reality, there’s a very dark side to it all. Addiction is sometimes a very private disease and those who struggle usually struggle alone. Most are turned away by loved ones when they seek help from them just based upon the stigma of addiction. This is a serious issue and we need to talk about it. How many overdoses need to happen before we finally break the stigma?