by On September 7th, 2018, famous rapper Malcolm McCormick, also known as Mac Miller, was found deceased in his Studio City bedroom in Los Angeles, California.
Miller perished from cardiac arrest due to a drug overdose, and as of now the drug has not been identified that caused the end for the twenty-six year old.
It has been proven before that Malcolm was dealing with drug addiction and attempted to recover to live a greater life, however, it’s never easy to escape an addiction, especially drugs and alcohol.
Demi Lovato, a famous female solo artist, has also had issues with recovering from drug addiction. Lovato overdosed on July 24th, 2018 on heroin, she survived the harsh reality drugs bring to our world.
Drug addiction is ruthless, causing more than 70,000 deaths in 2017 alone due to drug overdoses. And drugs, in America, are often glorified through the music of many artists, which is specifically targeted toward the youth community.
Addiction, in any form, can spread throughout any youth community and school system due to the amount of pressure and influences pushed unto young people; influences like peer pressure, growing up in a low-income neighborhood, bullying and more.
The tragedy of Miller’s death, and the panic Demi’s overdose, has induced suffering to relatives, close friends, and fans of their influential music. Drug addiction has taken over the lives of our population and will continue to poison the community unless there is a change.
Here at the NCC Bethlehem campus, there will be an Addiction & Recovery Educational Forum on October 4th, 2018 from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. We interviewed co-host of the event Andrea Marcolla, a counselor on the Bethlehem campus, about the meaning and reason for the event.
“We agreed to participate in this collaboration in order to educate our community, reduce the stigma surrounding substance use disorder and recovery and to empower those who may be struggling to seek help,” Marcolla said.
Through educating each other, students and faculty can ban together to demolish any misconceptions and be more open-minded toward individuals handling with addiction.
“I do believe hosting this event is the first step toward eradicating stigma about substance use disorder. It is a proactive initiative and rather than ignoring addiction we are acknowledging it in unity and offering hope and help to those impacted by addiction. Stigma prevents many people from seeking help. It is my hope that hosting this event will help students, staff and faculty know that there is hope and we as a community can support one another” said Marcolla, believing the event will be impactful towards students.
Change starts with us. It is a tragedy to what happens within our community, even to celebrities like Malcolm and Demi, who deal with addiction every day.
It is up to us, as people, to tackle and defeat addiction for good. We as people will not let drugs control us, we will stand up for ourselves for the better in all of our hearts and for the good in others and we will not let Malcolm’s death be undermined by continuing to abuse drugs. We will recover to remember those who have died because of addiction.
SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service) or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations. Callers can also order free publications and other information.
