News 9 Special Assignment: The forgotten epidemic - the opioid crisis, better or worse

In tonight's special assignment: the forgotten epidemic- the opioid crisis, better or worse, we're examining the overdose death numbers, specifically in each of our counties over the past 2 years, to see if the drug epidemic is better or worse than before the pandemic.

Let's take a look at our local counties.

These numbers from the Ohio Department of Health compare 2019 overdose deaths with those in 2020.

They show Belmont County saw an increase of one death.