Source: (Photo by Marek Slusarczyk/Thinkstock.)
HAMILTON COUNTY, Ind. — He’s a recovering addict who’s ready to use his experience to take the fight to drug cartels.
L.D. Powell is a businessman in Hamilton County. He’s running as a Republican, challenging Congresswoman Victoria Spartz for her seat in Washington representing Indiana’s 5th Congressional District.
“The medical system has been prescribing opioids and other pain killers for years, not really understanding the side effects,” says Powell on WISH-TV’s All Indiana Politics program.
Powell had a surgery years ago and says he came addicted to opioids. In his time going through recovery, Powell says he’s seen prescribed and illegal drugs affect everyone from billionaires to teenagers to grandmothers. He says that’s inspiration enough for him to take Spartz’s seat in Congress and advocate for more troops on the border and tougher penalties against countries in which illegal drugs may originate.
“We can apply pressure on the governments that are, let’s say not stepping up to their responsibility to help with this,” Powell explains.
He believes more law enforcement both on the border and on the streets in the United States is just part of the solution. Powell believes upgrading charges against drug dealers who sell fentanyl laced opioids.
“Potentially murder. Second degree or first degree. I mean, these drugs are killing people, so I don’t see a difference between someone coming up and shooting you with a gun or giving you a lethal dose of fentanyl,” says Powell on All Indiana Politics.
May 7th is primary day, where several Republicans, including Powell, will now have to compete against incumbent Congresswoman Spartz.
She originally said she would not run for re-election, choosing to focus on her family. Spartz says she has reconsidered, given the state of Republican leadership in Washington, in her words.
