Opioid-related deaths have quadrupled in the last 20 years.
Researchers studied national health and census data and found the epidemic has shifted to the eastern part of the U.S.
Washington, D.C. has seen the fastest increase in suspected opioid-related deaths where it has tripled every year since 2013.
The epidemic was originally associated with prescription painkillers in the 1990s but has since evolved into synthetic opioids such as Fentanyl.
States are trying to fight the crisis by restricting the supply of painkillers and expanding access to the overdose-reversing drug Naloxone.
Here in Knox County, the District Attorney General's Office said there has been 10 suspected overdose deaths so far this month. There were 20 suspected deaths in January, bringing this year's total up to 30.
So far, though, the trend has shifted in a positive direction for Knox County with noticeably fewer numbers of suspected OD deaths reported compared to years prior. By this point in 2018, the county had recorded 54 suspected deaths to overdose.
Knox County recorded 290 suspected overdose deaths in 2018, and 293 in 2017.