But even if it drug use on the show still raises the question of how much responsibility media companies should bear when they jazz up their story lines with dangerous behavior for the sake of authenticity, comedic relief or dramatic we have as Black artists is the same as a doctor, a lawyer, a business leader or educator: To uplift our community,” said Rickerby Hinds, professor and chair of the Department of Theater and Digital Production at the University of California Riverside.

Because of the increasing prevalence of Opioid use — due in part to people who voluntarily take them at first and then become addicted — over the last few years, the federal government as well as states around this country and community-based organizations have been placing emphasis on curbing the abuse of that particular class of prescription drugs.

While media coverage has largely presented opioid abuse a white rural epidemic, it is steadily growing in Black communities both in terms of use and the ways Blacks are disproportionately penalized for use and possession.

“The impact of opioid use in the Black community has been under-reported,” says Dr. Lenore Tate, a Sacramento-based psychologist who operates a private of opioid use is higher for Whites than it is for Blacks, death rates from opioid abuse and overdoses have been steadily increasing in the Black community for the past five years,” says Tate, who has served as a consultant to the to the Addiction Center, Molly has served as a gateway drug for 92% of its first-time users ushering them to marijuana, amphetamines, cocaine, and heroin, one of the most well-known opioids.

Whether it’s MDMAs like Molly; opioids like Percocet, OxyContin or Vicodin — or other harmful drugs, substance abuse continues to rise in the United States.

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