President Trump wants to build a border wall to help keep heroin out of the US.

However, would a border wall really help prevent opioid overdoses?

In 2017, 75% of all opiod overdoses involved Fentanyl,
a synthetic opiod developed by pharmaceutical companies.

This map shows the percentage per state of fatal Fentanyl overdoses compared to overall opiod overdoses.

If the majority of opioid overdoses in the Northeastern US are due to pharmeceuticals, a wall to stop heroin traffickers would do absolutely nothing to combat these deaths.

Let's take a look at where these opioids are coming from.

This map shows the number of times an opioid was prescribed for every 100 prescriptions per state.

As the data shows, southeastern states receive many more opioid prescriptions than any other area. People are far more likely to traffic pharmaceuticals from these states than from the border.

A Wall is not the solution to the opioid epidemic.
We need to take steps towards providing treatment for addiction and decriminalising addiction.

Sources:
https://reason.org/commentary/cdc-drug-mortality-data-drug-opioid-overdose-deaths/
https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/maps/rxstate2017.html