The documentary ‘How to Make Money Selling Drugs’ directed by Matthew Cooke was made a little while ago but we hear about it only now as it opens this week in selected theaters. The film, which focuses on the so-called ‘war against drugs’ and totally condemns it, has a few guest stars… you obviously can’t talk about drugs without talking about music. I haven’t seen the film, but according to the NY Times, Freeway Rick Ross is all over the movie, and I am talking about the drug emperor not the rapper, but real rappers are very present too as 50 Cent, an ex-coke dealer, is a main character in the movie… I wonder whether they also have interviewed this other ex-dealer named Jay-Z…
However, according to Rolling Stone and MTV, the most poignant testimony doesn’t come from a dealer but from someone who abused drugs, and not street drugs but rather prescription drugs. The film reveals that Eminem developed a substance habit including Vicodin, Valium and Xanax and almost died from it:
‘I don’t know at what point exactly it started to be a problem. I just remember liking it more and more’, he declared while explaining he wasn’t shooting heroin or taking cocaine. But his dangerous habit landed him in the hospital where he had to relearn motor and speech skills
‘Had I got to the hospital about two hours later, I would have died. My organs were shutting down. My liver, kidneys, everything. . . . They didn’t think I was going to make it. My bottom was going to be death.’
He eventually managed to stay clean after a few relapses. I don’t think you see him very long in the movie, but these few minutes are very powerful and confessional. This what Matthew Cooke had to say about the interview:
“Talking to Marshall was an honor, the guy is one of the great artists of our time; and he is incredibly sincere and open and forthcoming, and I think it’s so huge for other addicts out there, who struggle, to have somebody that they see as having made it, having everything that he would want in life. And yet, here is a guy who says openly that he couldn’t imagine how anyone could just live life without being on something. He had this feeling of discomfort inside of himself that he was trying to fix and resolve through that perfect cocktail of various drugs, which is what addicts experience.’
‘When Eminem talks about his addiction I think it’s very arresting, because he has that power and impact. So hopefully people watch it and they have some sense of empathy and sympathy for the person who falls into that trap, because that’s a very strong man revealing something very, very challenging that could have killed him.’
Indeed, and the most ironic part is that Eminem wasn’t addicted to illegal drugs, revealing even more the absurdity of this war against drugs. Watch Eminem talk about his drug addiction below: