Once again Macklemore leaves his audience speechless with his hot new single “Drug Dealer” featuring vocals from Ariana DeBoo and co-production from Joshua “Budo” Karp. Macklemore’s new song exposes the opiate epidemic and points the finger at Big Pharma without hesitation. Like all of Macklemore’s songs, there are layers of depth to his lyrics that many people may miss if they are not familiar with his style or the opiate epidemic.
Within the first 15 second of his music video, you are speechless and mesmerized by a lone figure naked as birth suffering in a shower shaking in the fetal position. Where people may mistake this for a common display of nudity in music videos, Macklemore is beyond this shallow display of attention focusing on unveiling this unfortunate truth of opioid addiction. Macklemore is illustrating what the addiction community knows as the ‘poor-man’s detox’.
Medically Assisted Detox vs the Poor-Man’s Detox
Medical assisted detox at a clinic or drug treatment facility provides individuals with professional medical attention and proper meditation to help them through the withdrawals of not having opiates in their system. Those who cannot detox in a safe setting are forced to suffer the excruciating pain and depression in the confines of their own home isolated in their agony. The feeling of a hot or cold shower during this moment is supposed to ease the pain and encourage it to pass quickly, but the graphic imagery of his torment depicts the relentless anguish of the poor-man’s detox.
He makes it very clear who suffers at the hands of Big Pharma. Not just your average Joe’s or homeless junkies, but talented artists of every genre like Michael Jackson, Ledger, Prince, and Amy Winehouse. These were not poor, unfortunate souls that choose to be addicted to drugs, these were wealthy artists who trusted their doctors, trusted their prescribed medications to heal them. Instead it robbed them of their creativity and ended their lives prematurely.
Spotlighting Big Pharma
Unfortunately, the suffering and torment witnessed in his music video is not an over exaggeration, but a reality that thousands, if not millions, face every day, by the hands of Big Pharma. Macklemore is not blaming gangs, shady drug dealers lurking on street corners, or third world country drug smugglers. No, Macklemore speaks truth without prejudice and focuses the spotlight on Big Pharma. The main chorus of the song leaves his audience awe-struck at the brutal honesty that sums up the opiate epidemic.
[Ariana DeBoo:]
My drug dealer was a doctor, doctor
Had the plug from Big Pharma, Pharma
He said that he would heal me, heal me
But he only gave me problems, problems
My drug dealer was a doctor, doctor
Had the plug from Big Pharma, Pharma
I think he trying to kill me, kill me
He tried to kill me for a dollar, dollar
Take Two a Day and Call Your Dealer in the Morning
Where many look at those who struggle with substance abuse and addiction as criminals willing to do anything to score a fix, Macklemore portrays the harsh reality of what it is like to crave the opiates that were once offered as a solution by a physician.
They screamin’ “open the bottle,” I wanna be at peace
My hand is gripping that throttle, I’m running out of speed
Tryin’ close my eyes but I keep sweatin’ through these sheets, through these sheets
Those who get hooked on pain pills follow the prescription bottle’s instructions because a doctor said it will help them. Then to have that trusted doctor refuse to refill the prescription in the midst of a blossoming addiction, causes morals to be compromised, causes a honest man to lie, causes suffering until submission. Instructions like ‘take two every four hours’ or ‘take as needed’ breeds addiction, breeds dependency, turns an honest law abiding citizen into a desperate individual confused, sitting in the shower in suffrage, and terrified at what they would do to feel alright again.
The Future of the Opiate Epidemic
So God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change
Courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference
Leave it to Macklemore to once again enlighten the masses and bring the tragedy of the opiate epidemic to the ears of his audience. What is happening to our nation, to our society is crippling innocent lives because Big Pharma is padding the pockets of doctors who are willing to prescribe powerful opioids like Fentanyl and Hydrocodone without a second thought. He himself lives a fulfilling life in sobriety and continues to educate his audience about the political influences of pharmaceutical companies and the ongoing opiate epidemic that is sweeping cross the nation.
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis composed “Drug Dealer” for a new documentary called Prescription for Change: Ending America’s Opioid Crisis. Detox to Rehab encourages those who are still struggling with a painkiller addiction to find help in anyway that you can. Too many lives have been lost to the addictive properties of opiate based drugs. Call us at (866)-578-7471 , reach out to a loved one, or have the courage like Macklemore to be an agent of change and not another statistic.
Photo Credits to:
hurricanehank / Shutterstock.com
