News and Events
Rap Musician Logic Joins Truth’s #FinishIt Campaign
By Joseph O'Hern, Columbia County Community Health Advocate
August 27, 2017
In a night packed with buzzed about performances, there was one that stood out above the crowd. Toward the end of the show, upcoming rapper Logic, along with Alessia Cara and new artist Khalid, took to the MTV Video Music Awards stage for a powerful performance of their single, “1-800-273-8255.” The song, which also happens to be the number for the National Suicide Hotline, has been hailed as an emotionally powerful anthem for those with mental health issues.
But for Logic, it doesn’t stop at a hit song. As a former tobacco user, he has now taken his platform and teamed up with Truth and the #FinishIt campaign. Following the night’s performance was a one-minute commercial featuring Logic and the cold hard facts on how Big Tobacco has specifically targeted those with mental health and substance abuse issues.
It’s a little known (yet sad) fact that people with mental health or substance abuse issues account for 40% of the cigarettes sold in the U.S. That adds up to about $37 billion in Big Tobacco’s pockets. “It’s essentially a big bully preying on the weak,” states Logic in Truth’s commercial.
According to the Center for Disease Control, 36.5% of adults with any mental illness reported current use of tobacco in 2013 compared to 25.3% of adults with no mental illness. Why is that? Maybe it’s because Big Tobacco has been known to give free cigarettes to patients in psychiatric facilities.
Following Logic’s performance at the Video Music Awards, calls into the National Suicide Hotline increased by 50%. Is this a sign that those with mental health and substance abuses issues are turning to appropriate resources instead of tobacco? We can only hope.
