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And is the city’s high ranking fair ? People working in addiction recovery explain the various factors at play in Wilmington. By Taylor Knopf By some measures, Wilmington, N.C. ranks number one in the nation for opioid abuse . But for all its problems, the city’s residents and those in the addiction recovery community say that reputation is a bit unfair. “There are a lot of different theories about why it’s so problematic in Wilmington specifically,” said Michael Page, a North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition worker who helps operate a mobile needle exchange in Wilmington. NC Harm Reduction Coalition ’s Michael Page. Photo courtesy Michael Page . “I feel that it has a lot to do with the polar opposite, which is recovery. Wilmington is a mecca for recovery,” he argued. Page and others in the area say that there are close to 300 twelve-step meetings a week in the city. It’s filled with halfway houses and substance abuse outpatient programs . It’s also important to note that accordin...

HUNTINGTON — For someone deep in the throes of an addiction to heroin or opioids, it's not that uncommon to end up in the news. What is uncommon is fighting that battle while already being a public figure, which means headlines a regular person might not get. Bernard Slater Jr ., resigned from Charleston City Council in April after a string of bad headlines that followed the length of his career as a public servant. "You go from being elected to city council to digging in people's dumpsters," Slater said. "That was my rock bottom right there. I had hit bottom long ago , but I didn't know rock bottom had a basement. After that, I didn't think nothing of it at the time until I sobered up and saw the headlines." Slater's first memories of drugs and alcohol are of getting beer for his uncles out of the refrigerator as they played poker. They would let him take the first drink. Then, at age 5, while at the beach, his uncles – teenagers at the time – ...

Photo Credit: Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock In 1994, I visited the home of Donald Trump. He was a Democrat then, of sorts, and I was the party’s nominee for governor of Connecticut. He’d taken an interest in our state owing to his keen desire to lodge a casino in Bridgeport, an idea I found economically and morally dubious. I had scant hope of enlisting him, but made the trip anyway, thinking that if I convinced him I might win, he’d be less apt to bankroll my opponent. I arrived at Trump Tower in early evening, accompanied by my finance chair and an old friend and colleague. Stepping off the elevator into his apartment, we were met by a display of sterile, vulgar ostentation: all gold, silver, brass, marble; nothing soft, welcoming or warm. Trump soon appeared and we began to converse, but not really. In campaigns, we candidates do most of the talking; because we like to, and because people ask us lots of questions. Not this time. Not by a long shot. Trump talked rapidly and virtually no...