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ABC6 News & the Ohio Opioid Education Alliance investigate the increase in opioid overdose deaths.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Local officials representing nearly 85% of Ohio’s residents have agreed to a plan to share any money brought in from settlements with companies over the toll of opioids.

COLUMBUS — State and local leaders inked a deal to join forces to negotiate a settlement with opioid manufacturers and distributors over their role in the opiate addiction crisis that has devastated the state, officials announced Wednesday.

Cities and counties representing more than 85% of Ohio residents have agreed to join the state in seeking a unified damages settlement with the drug industry over the deadly costs of opioid addiction.

HAMILTON, Ohio — In the living room of his mother’s apartment, a threadbare two-story unit next to the train tracks, Ryder pulls out bulky plastic toys from a bin and wonders aloud about how they work, smiling toothily, mumbling along to “Baby Shark” and occasionally popping another fruit-flavored gummy into his mouth.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cuyahoga County Council on Tuesday approved the first round of programs funded by the county’s settlements with opioid manufacturers.

The number of naloxone orders dispensed in Ohio surged by 2,328% after the Ohio General Assembly approved a law in 2015 allowing pharmacists to dispense naloxone without a prescription, according to a recent study in JAMA Network Open. With prior studies estimating a 14% reduction in death by opioid-related overdose in states where access to naloxone is increased, the findings are significant.

A deadline for local governments to sign onto the state’s effort to reach a settlement with drug companies passed over the weekend without being officially extended, but additions to the One Ohio plan apparently are still being accepted.