the exree hence -- the comprehensive addiction recovery act has provided that. the good news is that these efforts are actually starting to pay of 0. drug overdose deaths are still way too high and in ohio we start at a high water mark. but after eight years -- eight years of more people dying every single year, finally last year we are seeing in ohio and around the country a reduction of overdose deaths. that's great news. we peaked in 2017 at 72,000 americans losing their life. the number-one cause of death in my home state of ohio and the number-one cause of death for all americans under the age of 50. progress has been particularly encouraging in places like ohio. we saw a 21.4% drop in overdose deaths in the first half of last year, 2018. the last numbers that we have, the most recent data that we have. this was the biggest drop in the nation actually between july of 2018 and june of -- july of 2017 and june of 2018. so for that one-year period according to the centers for disease control statistics ohio had the biggest drop in the country. that's parliamen