With the announcement of the sudden death and overdose of 26 year old rapper, Mac Miller on Friday, September 7th, 2018, many people around the world who were friends, lovers and fans took time to share their condolences. Even those who didn’t avidly listen to his music shared their sympathy for the loss of the young artist and his legacy. However, since his passing, many Millennials have been speaking up about how eye opening his death has been, as it makes us reflect on the drug abuse epidemic within our country, our youth and the way we check up on our loved ones.
Despite police reports confirming that the rapper died of a drug overdose, many people can’t help but search for more reasoning to his death. This past year wasn’t the easiest for Mac. At the beginning of the year, he split with his long time girlfriend, Ariana Grande, and a month later watched her get engaged to actor, Pete Davidson. Shortly after that, Miller was involved in a serious car accident while under the influence of drugs. And before Miller passed, he released an album entitled “Swimming”, which had a strong focus on mental health, drug addiction and the up’s and down’s to it all. With the events that took place in Mac’s life, some believe that his death was a suicide, some say that it was heartbreak, and others say that it was just an accident. No one will ever know for sure, and we cannot place blame on any one person, since no one will ever know what was going through the mind of Miller before his final moments.
Being a young adult in the 21st century, it’s hard to learn how to love, how to live, and how to win and lose, all while trying to make something of ourselves in the process. It can be so easy to get lost along the way, especially when it feels like there’s no way out of our minds. Many turn to substances to take us away from the burdens of reality, even if just for a moment. And for some, that one moment could cost them their whole life. Maybe that’s the most troubling part to this tragedy: no one ever thought that this would take Miller away from us forever. Those who are in their 20’s or teens can relate to the feelings and events that happened before Malcolm’s passing, and know that this could’ve been avoided.
Along with losing Mac Miller, Millennials have had to watch so many young artists that they look up to suffer fatal and life threatening incidents involving drugs; artists like Demi Lovato, Lil Peep and Avicii are just some of the celebrities who have been affected by this epidemic this year alone. Now as we move forward, we ask ourselves, how can we be better? How can we avoid losing someone we love to the effects of drugs? How can we combat the extreme epidemic of drugs that’s currently plaguing our country?
If you or someone in your life is struggling with addiction, you can call The Drug Abuse Hotline at 1-877-978-3372 and speak to an advisor on how to get help.