Now that the initial joy over of Meek Mill's surprise prison release has subsided a bit, the Philly rapper is hitting the ground running to make real social impact. His own imprisonment has inspired him to speak out about criminal justice reform.

Joined by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, Representative Dwight Evans (D-PA) and Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin, Meek explained what he feels needs to change in order to better the justice system.

“It was a traumatic experience, and I’m happy to be back and be a part of what I call history because I know it’s a lot of voiceless men and people I personally know, being in prison, sitting next to them every day, who are depending on me,” said the rapper, according to CBS Philadelphia. “And I feel like God has given me a great platform to help many others and make, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the world a better place.”

Meek did not speak about his case but delved deep into his own personal experiences in explaining how the current probation system can make former prisoners' lives unnecessarily difficult.

“At one point in my life I was actually addicted to opioids, and I think there should be a line drawn where you have a drug problem and you’re scared to tell your probation officer that you have a drug problem because you don’t want to be sent to prison for years,” Meek noted.

Photo: GIPHY

“I want to thank my probation officer in Montgomery County,” the rapper added, noting that because she was particularly understanding, he was able to kick his habit. “There was one point in my life where I had a drug problem, years ago, and I told her I had a drug problem and she asked me if I want help, and she put me in a rehabilitation program and it changed my life.”

For his part, Governor Wolf said, “One thing is clear, we need to make our system fairer so that we are only sending those who belong in prison to our correctional institutions, so that we are not wasting time, we’re not wasting money, supervising those who simply don’t belong in prison.”

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