So often, as a writer, it can feel that those who don't "get it" (namely the proverbial Man) are trying to extract yet another pound of your flesh. To take one more piece of your true self away so that you might better conform to societal expectations. It is more and more of a challenge to sustain that version of yourself that makes you who you are: the artist. With The Opiate Vol. 24, we hope to remind writers that they are not alone in that struggle to preserve what little integrity is left to uphold in a world where selling out (deemed something to "aspire to") is seemingly non-negotiable in order to secure even the most basic survival. This issue contains works from Emily Jon Tobias, Destiny Cannon, L.A. Ricketts III, sleazy b, Jacques Debrot, Sylvia Totah Calabrese, Leanne Grabel, Ben Nardolilli, Victor Marrero, Marissa Glover, Maria Berardi, Donna Dallas, Sean Chapman, Nikoletta Nousiopoulos, Ron Kolm, Alan Britt, Susie Gharib, Anna Kapungu and Imogen Arate.
