Meek Mill revealed that he hid his battle with an opioid addiction while he was on probation, reports TMZ. In a speech made during a press conference on Thursday in Philadelphia, Mill said he feared to tell his probation officers about his addiction because he thought it may land him back in jail.
While standing with Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf and other leaders from the state, Mill said, "At one point in my life, I was actually addicted to opioids. I think it should be a line drawn where you have a drug problem where you're scared to tell your probation officer you have a drug problem because you don't want to be sent to prison for years."
He then thanked his probation officer. Mill said that when he "had a drug problem years ago," his probation officer put him in a rehabilitation program. He discussed how people on probation and who are involved in the system with an addiction hesitate to get help because of the same fear he had. Mill cited the recent incident at a Philadelphia-area Starbucks, where two black men were arrested while waiting for a friend to arrive. Mill said if he was in the same situation as these two men, he could have faced a sentence of two-to-four years in jail for having contact with police.
Mill continued to say, "I'm still overwhelmed. I came from being in prison seven days ago and I'm still overwhelmed… It was a traumatic experience and I'm happy to be back and be a part of what I call history because I notice a lot of voiceless men and people I personally know from being in prison… I feel like God has given me a great platform to help many others and make Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the world a better place."
Mill was released on bail last week. In November, he was sentenced up to four years in prison for violating terms of his probation on a decade-old gun and drug case.
