Country Singer Jelly Roll Testifies Before Congress Urging It To Pass Anti-Fentanyl Legislation

Country music star Jelly Roll testified before the Senate Banking Committee about the federal government’s response to the fentanyl crisis.

Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason DeFord, spoke about his lived experience to a congressional committee as both a drug dealer and addict and used his testimony to plead with Congress to pass the FEND Off Fentanyl Act.

DeFord pointed out that around 190 people die from a drug overdose every day, which is enough to fill a Boeing 737 airplane. He also stressed that American society should destigmatize drug use.

“America has been known to bully and shame drug addicts,” DeFord said. “Instead of dealing and trying to understand what the actual root of the problem is with that.”

DeFord elaborated on his experiences as a drug dealer. “I was a part of the problem. I am here now, standing as a man who wants to be a part of the solution,” he said. “I brought my community down. I hurt people. I was the uneducated man in the kitchen playing chemist with drugs I knew absolutely nothing about, just like these drug dealers are doing right now when they’re mixing every drug on the market with fentanyl and they’re killing the people we love.”

He also talked about attending funerals and the pain that brought him.

“I’ve attended more funerals than I care to share with y’all,” he said. “I could sit here and cry for days about the caskets I’ve carried of people I love dearly, deeply in my soul. Good people, not just drug addicts. Uncles, friends, cousins, normal people.”

The FEND Off Fentanyl Act was unanimously passed but the Senate Banking Committee last June. However, it was blocked from being included in the National Defense Authorization Act. The act focuses on sanctions and anti-money laundering practices to combat illegal supply chains from China and Mexico.

DeFord was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2024 Grammys.