By: Lakeview Health
Last year, Macklemore took on the opioid epidemic with a new song. “Kevin” addressed the addiction crisis with lyrics like “a pill that a doctor prescribed / and a drug that a million dollar industry supplied,” homing in on the controversial use of oxycontin as a pain reliever in particular. “This one is personal,” Macklemore posted on Instagram: “I started writing it when my friend Kevin passed from an overdose of prescription medication.”
Now the Seattle rapper is back with another project to combat addiction, and he is teaming up with President Barack Obama again. After appearing on the President’s Weekly Address in May, Macklemore and Obama are joining forces in an MTV documentary on opioid addiction. Prescription For Change: Ending America’s Opioid Crisis will air on October 11. According to MTV, Obama will join executive producer Macklemore to “openly share their own experience with substance use as they discuss the scourge and stigma of addiction.” Macklemore said it will highlight “some of the things we need to do to address this epidemic.” After an exclusive premiere event at the White House on October 4, MTV’s Ana Marie Cox moderated a discussion panel on the response to the opioid epidemic with National Drug Control Policy Director Michael Botticelli, Macklemore, and other guests.
“I’m one of millions of Americans who has struggled with addiction and abused painkillers, and if it weren’t for treatment and recovery I wouldn’t be here today,” Macklemore said in a statement.
