Dear Outsiders,
It was with a heavy heart that I read the news of Michael K. Williams’ death earlier this month. For those of you unfamiliar with his work, you need to start with his iconic character Omar Little from “The Wire.”
It is simply the best character on one of the best shows in all of history. It was set here in my hometown of Baltimore and peeled back the many layers of problems we host: drugs, murders, corruption, and education. Each season took on a different one of these issues, and Omar Little — a Robin Hood-like drug dealer that robbed other drug dealers — provided some of the most amazing scenes I’ve ever seen. Like this one.
“Omar comin’” was about as scary a statement that has ever been uttered on screen. But while he was a folk hero on “The Wire” that struck fear into the Baltimore drug community, off-screen Mike was battling the same demons himself. It has been reported that he was found dead with what appeared to be a bag of heroin on the table beside him.
He had spent decades struggling with substance abuse. And addiction spares nobody, regardless of how successful or wealthy they are.
The same goes for depression…
I remember an episode of “No Reservations” with another hero of mine, Anthony Bourdain. He was actually my inspiration for starting The Adventure Capitalist.
Anthony met Michael in his birthplace of Brooklyn. It wasn’t the hipster capital it is today, and Mike wanted to show Anthony the area he was born into. “The hood” in his home neighborhood of East Flatbush. The pair made their way to Crown Heights where they had Caribbean food from one of his favorite restaurants: Gloria’s.
They shared oxtail and curry while they talked about their love of food and community. You can watch it here.
It was painful to watch, considering that Anthony Bourdain also suffered from heroin addiction. He regretfully took his own life a few years back due to depression. It was difficult to understand that both of these brilliant, successful men died far too young from illnesses that we all hope can be treated.
During my life, I have seen the ravages of addiction on friends, family, and colleagues. The deep scope of addiction is incredibly painful to watch and even more harrowing for the person going through it. Whether it’s an addiction to something as socially acceptable as alcohol; a heavily abused “hard drug” like heroin or cocaine; or perhaps most terrifying these days, doctor-prescribed opioids like oxycontin and fentanyl, the results are often the same…
That is to say, almost nobody cleans up with ease. It can take years of therapy, almost daily addiction meetings like Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous, and even months of living in rehab facilities or sober-living houses.
While there are plenty of success stories of those who have used these tools to confront their demons and beat their addictions, there are far more tales of death and destruction. It’s frankly a public health emergency that the world needs more tools to combat.
I point this all out to share one of the reasons that I recommend companies developing psychedelic drugs to treat illnesses like addiction and depression. Those aren’t maladies of the body, but disturbances of the mind, and by employing a different strategy I believe they could honestly change the face of mental illness completely.
I’m not the only one that feels this way: Investors are starting to wake up to the possibilities of companies like that.
I was just talking about one such company with my friend and colleague Jason Simpkins in our weekly Trend Tracker video. We discussed all of the above and gave out several stock picks to play on it.
We do it each and every week, and it’s a fun way to find new trends and new stocks while actually enjoying yourself instead of watching another hour-long promotion. You can sign up and get a free pick here.
Have a wonderful weekend, and please be safe and be kind. If you know somebody struggling with addiction, don’t wait until it’s too late. Talk to them and encourage them to get the help they need.
