OPINION: Ryan Hampton –

Feb. 5, 2019 – Cartels have been synonymous with the illegal drug trade originating from Southern and Central America. Some 800,000 federal employees did not receive their paychecks because of the president’s determination that a border wall be built. But the drug trade which underlies part of the rationale for a wall is in fact a perilous red herring. The most dangerous drug trade of all isn’t south of our border. It’s right in our own backyard. Over the last two decades, I have seen firsthand the consequences of our crisis. I began my journey into addiction not with an illegal herb or powder from the jungles of Colombia, but from labs found in Connecticut and Ohio, sold by high-heeled pharmaceutical reps, prescribed by my doctors and paid for by my insurance company…

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