Prince is dead

[jimmy olsen]

Some less reputable reports say he was given a "save shot" for an opiate overdose a few days before.

Cause of death was Fentanyl overdose. I was on this for three days after my operation. Ridiculously strong and addictive, so they took me off it in three days and put me on morphine. 

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/what-fentanyl-drug-killed-prince-has-killed-thousands-others-n584961

[Capetan Mihali]

Anybody hprescribed strong opiates or using them unprescribed needs Narcan around.  They even have a nasal spray, you don't have to go hypodermic.  It is a lifesaver in the most literal sense, as it will resuscitate virtually any opiate overdose (though some could require a few doses).  And yet the sale or distribution to individuals is very difficult if not impossible in most states, including the ones experiencing this dramatic upswing in fatal overdoses.  Instead, you've got to call an ambulance to have a paramedic administer the exact same thing, at great expense and the loss of crucial minutes of respiration on the part of the overdosee.

Pharmaceutical fentanyl is one thing, and it's dangerous enough, with plenty of people leaving this world from putting a heat pack on their patch or putting on a second one for breakthrough pain.  But part of what's driving the rise in fatal opiate overdoses is the fact that powder heroin is increasingly laced with fentanyl or any number of fentanyl analogs.  It's easy to make, cheap to make, and potent as fuck to beef up a bag of B-complex powder and a little bit of heroin; i.e., cartel gold.  So only expect to see the number of fentanyl ODs rise as we continue to slog through the War On Drugs.

[Capetan Mihali]

Good night, sweet Prince. (Can't believe this just occurred to me now.)

But really, Prince was a genius.  If JB was the Godfather of Soul, and MJ was the King of Pop, Prince was indeed the Prince of Pop/Soul.  I love his stuff, before and after "Purple Rain."  Purple Rain made a good movie too, though its follow-up a few years later was almost an exercise in Surrealism.