The Offspring release new music video for ‘The Opioid Diaries’

THE OFFSPRING have released a new music video!

The new music video, for the track The Opioid Diaries, is taken from the band’s latest album, Let The Bad Times Roll, which was released back in April.

Speaking about the song, vocalist Dexter Holland says, “I wrote this OFFSPRING song about addiction. While drug addiction is certainly not a new issue, the opioid epidemic in America is different. It’s different because it was created by, and driven by, Big Pharma – and I wrote this song to say that the pharmaceutical industry should be held accountable for its consequences.”

“The Opioid Diaries is a song written from a personal point of view, to show the very personal toll that opiate addiction has taken on our friends and families. This opioid crisis is different because people who might not normally have been looking for drugs were unwittingly prescribed these opiates for pain, not knowing how addictive they were. There are countless stories of regular folks with short term pain issues – a blue collar factory worker, or a high school athlete, for example – who were given these drugs and became hopelessly addicted in a short period of time. When the prescription ran out, they had no choice but to start taking illegal street drugs like heroin and fentanyl. And the results, of course, have been deadly.”

Watch the official music video for The Opioid Diaries here:

In Holland’s view, it’s essential to reframe the narrative around opioid addiction in order to effectively address it. “And yet the larger problem still remains,” he reflects. “What should we do to fight drug addiction? I say that until we stop treating drug addiction as a criminal issue, and start treating it as a medical issue, we’ll stay stuck in this vicious cycle of pain and suffering. I’ve never seen a social ill assuaged by punishment, but always and only by compassion. The right approach is not to jail people with addiction issues, but to get them the medical help that they need. We wouldn’t put our kids in a jail cell if they had cancer…and we shouldn’t put them there for addiction.”

Let The Bad Times Roll is out now via Concord Records. 

For more information on THE OFFSPRING like their official page on Facebook.