It’s a problem that is growing, in part, because on the streets oxycodone, heroin and highly lethal fentanyl are selling in ever more potent concoctions, often under vague names that can mask their ability to kill.
Confronted with what is increasingly referred to as a toxic drug supply, all levels of government are now funding interventions that can occur at the site of an overdose.
Thunder Bay got its first permanent supervised drug-use site this winter, and the nurses there keep a watchful eye over about 250 people a month. For years, naloxone kits have been distributed to residents, so friends and family members of drug users are increasingly administering these antidotes.
What is lacking, however, are the supports and solutions that are applied after an overdose. There are several clinics prescribing methadone, a drug that alleviates the wretched symptoms of withdrawal, but there is a shortage of addiction-rehabilitation facilities in the region.
lyrics
The media remind us regularly that the most important cultural value relative to family life is what’s euphemistically called “choice.” The choice of whether to have kids or not is held so sacrosanct that our laws permit the decision to be made many months after a new human life begins. Some even advocate extending the choice to a period of time after birth. So why the weird reaction to people receiving children as a blessing instead of fighting them tooth and nail with hormones, chemicals, surgery and scissors? Do we need some remedial courses in how babies are made? It’s entirely natural, of course, for babies to be conceived when men and women have sex. Treating the entirely expected procreation of children as something to be avoided at all costs — and an unspeakable atrocity if one has, say, three children already — would be weird even if our culture weren’t obsessed with sex at all times, in all places, in every context, at every moment.
A seminal document charting the disc-truction of CD audio well before the implosion of the mainstream music industry at large! Goodbye Backstreet Boys! Hello Rihanna!? Ibrahim
Bleak, dissociated monotron-ic drones and atmospheres from the living legend himself. Culture can only benefit from such a thorough trip through the rinse cycle. Dry clean only! Ibrahim
A modern classic that points towards the endless evolution of digital audio with even the most minimal means. If this doesn't inspire you then nothing will. Essential. Ibrahim
This stunning, beautiful project from Fujian duo Southeast of Rain 东南有雨 blends field recordings with rippling notes from the pipa. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 8, 2021
A strikingly emotional work, “Fairfax” combines found voicemail messages with moody, evocative musical textures to stirring effect. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 6, 2022
The North Carolina singer and multi-instrumentalist translates the "story of lightness" into nine experimental ambient spirituals. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 8, 2021