An article I wrote about the opiate epidemic in West Virginia went up at VICE. It’s part of a series focused on Appalachia, with articles by Catherine Venable Moore and Jacob Knabb, and photographs by Stacy Kranitz. As Stacy says in her introduction, our goal was to provide a nuanced look at the region: most articles about Appalachia either reinforce stereotypes (of backwardness & tragedy), or focus on the positive things (bluegrass homemade jelly bullshit). I think we did a pretty damn good job. The region is beautiful and dark and complicated, and oftentimes the beauty is a result of the darkness. I highly recommend reading every article.