"The general public is going to be more upset with seeing more needles on the road than they are going to be seeing the bodies."
In this episode of Walking Radio, we walk through Toronto’s Sherwood Park with Lee — a nurse whose career spans intensive care, psychotherapy, and substance use care across urban and northern Ontario. Together, we unpack the heartbreak, confusion, and urgency surrounding Ontario’s recent closure of supervised consumption sites.
Lee brings not only deep clinical experience, but also a rare emotional clarity as we talk grief, stigma, housing, harm reduction, and the human cost of political decisions made far from the frontlines. From the widening gaps in care to the mythology of “tough love,” Lee shares why supervised consumption is about more than preventing death — it’s about protecting life in all its complexity.
We talk about purple heroin, grief as a hidden epidemic, and why Narcan alone isn’t enough. We reflect on the lives lost — and why some deaths are considered grievable, while others pass in silence. Together, we ask: what does ethical care look like in the midst of an overdose crisis?
This episode is a walk through memory, systems, and the invisible labour of compassion. It's also a record of connection — human-to-human — at a time when that’s never felt more vital.
