The Dig - Boston's Only Newspaper
Friday marks 55 years since the assassination of Malcolm X, and the complexities of his life and his death are increasingly being examined from different angles. A lesser-known but fascinating character in Malcolm X’s life is Hakim Jamal, his “cousin” who, like Malcolm X, transformed from a Roxbury hoodlum to an author and activist.
“Everyone knows we are a mosquito on the butt of an elephant ... I’ve had cops see my shirt and get inches from my face about it.”
Among the nightmares of an unprecedented epidemic, sex work gets more dangerous for opioid addicts
While the opioid epidemic is the most glaring effect, it’s certainly not the only symptom of our societal malaise. Things are getting worse across the board—suicide, homelessness, mass incarceration, ecological disaster. Taken together, all of these factors are making life in 21st century America increasingly untenable.
I got people telling me, “Yes, I’m in recovery, but who the fuck are you to tell somebody how they should recover? Who the fuck are you to tell somebody that they aren’t in recovery because they are on medication?” And I’m like, “Because they’re fucking not! What the fuck are you talking about?”
From the doc’s office to the dispensary, Mass continues to fight opioids with cannabis
An abridged trudge through Boston’s long, repetitive history of opiate abuse
“Always test every batch,” Fuentes says. “Don’t assume because the last batch.” He calls it the “chocolate chip” effect when the drugs aren’t cut well and the fentanyl is not well distributed.
“People are dying across the state ... We need to be open to whatever might be helpful to protect people from the worst consequences of their addictions.”
Street sales of Oxy and the resulting spike in heroin sales led to a whole new wave of nonviolent offenders sent to prison for years with mandatory minimum sentences.
