Written by 👁 MarionWatch.com & NewsForce247.com Investigates 👁
Introduction: A Day to Remember, A Time to Act
Each year on August 31, communities across the globe observe International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD). What began in 2001 as a small memorial event in Australia has grown into the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose. The day serves a solemn, multifaceted purpose: to remember the lives tragically cut short, to acknowledge the profound and often silent grief of families and friends left behind, and to combat the pervasive stigma surrounding drug-related deaths that prevents open discussion and meaningful action. Encapsulated by its slogan, “Time to remember. Time to act,” IOAD establishes a crucial call to honor the past by taking decisive, evidence-based steps to protect the future.
The overdose crisis is unequivocally one of the worst public health catastrophes of the 21st century. Since 1999, it has claimed nearly one million lives in the United States alone, a toll that surpasses the population of several U.S. states. An overdose, clinically defined as the body being overwhelmed by a toxic amount of a substance or combination of substances, is not limited to illicit drugs. It can involve alcohol, prescribed medications, or, increasingly, a lethal combination thereof. Furthermore, not all overdoses are fatal. Non-fatal events, which are far more common than fatal ones, can leave survivors with lasting physical and mental health consequences, including brain damage and harm to other vital organs.
To comprehend the sheer scale of this crisis, this report employs a “zoom-out” approach. It begins with a granular examination of a single American community—Marion, Ohio—to illustrate how sweeping national trends manifest at the local level. From the streets of this post-industrial city, the analysis expands to the statewide context of Ohio, one of the epicenters of the epidemic, and finally pans out to the national picture. This methodology aims to humanize the staggering statistics, revealing the anatomy of a crisis that began in doctors’ offices and town squares before engulfing a nation.
Part I: The Anatomy of a Crisis – Marion, Ohio (2000-Present)
A Heartland Town Under Siege
Marion, Ohio, embodies the story of many post-industrial Midwestern cities. Once a proud, blue-collar hub of manufacturing, home to factories that produced machinery for monumental projects like the Panama Canal and Hoover Dam, the city faced profound economic decline as industry moved out over recent decades. This economic vacuum created a landscape of unemployment, hopelessness, and community fracturing—conditions that rendered it acutely vulnerable to the burgeoning drug trade.
The crisis in Marion did not appear overnight. It began with the misuse of prescription painkillers in the early 2000s, a trend that mirrored the national pattern. However, the situation escalated dramatically around 2009, when local police and activists report that heroin began to systematically infiltrate the city, trafficked primarily from Detroit and Chicago. This shift from regulated pharmaceuticals to an illicit street drug marked a turning point. The experience of local residents, such as Derek Eger, a recovering addict who spoke to reporters in 2013, illustrates this devastating pipeline. After being introduced to pain killers, he transitioned to heroin, which was cheaper and more accessible. He described a daily existence dictated by the need to acquire the drug, a desperation that directly fueled local crime. His story underscores a critical link: the arrival of organized trafficking networks from major urban centers transformed a local public health issue into a public safety crisis, overwhelming treatment programs and leaving city leaders struggling to respond.
By 2013, Marion Watch had dedicated five years to reporting and enforcement efforts. We were propelled into our first direct actions in 2014 by inconsistent enforcement against key figures in the drug trafficking apparatus. This shift led our team to partner directly with local and federal law enforcement agencies.
During that time, our Core Team and network members witnessed and reported numerous shocking issues at the street level to our handlers which caused the situation to deteriorate and become increasingly dangerous. The majority of the data we collected has never been publicly released, and we do not intend to do so unless it becomes absolutely necessary. Today, feedback from the public and elected officials confirms that these enforcement inconsistencies persist.
The Statistical Scourge: Overdoses and Drug Activity in Marion County
Charting the precise historical trajectory of the overdose crisis in Marion, Ohio, is complicated by a significant challenge in public data. The relative scarcity of comprehensive, longitudinal overdose data for a community so clearly affected by the crisis is not merely a research obstacle; it is a symptom of the epidemic itself. Smaller cities often lack the robust public health infrastructure—such as dedicated forensic epidemiologists or real-time coroner reporting systems—to track an evolving crisis. This “data black hole” means that by the time state and federal agencies compile finalized statistics, the nature of the threat on the ground has already changed, leaving local responders perpetually behind the curve.
Despite these limitations, available indicators paint a clear picture of a community under duress.
- High Prescription Rates: A foundational vulnerability is evident in prescribing patterns. Marion County, Ohio, has an opiate dispensing rate of 62.8 per 100 people, a figure significantly higher than the Ohio state average of 36 per 100 people. This suggests a historical over-saturation of prescription opioids that likely primed the community for the subsequent waves of the crisis.
- Non-Medical Substance Use: A 2022 Community Health Assessment for Marion County found that 8% of adult residents reported having used medication not prescribed to them within the past six months. This provides a contemporary baseline of non-medical use that fuels overdose risk.
- The Polysubstance Market: The current nature of the local drug supply is reflected in recent enforcement actions. In 2024, the MARMET Drug Task Force seized 103 grams of heroin/fentanyl, 120 grams of methamphetamine, and 225 grams of cocaine. These figures demonstrate that the local market is not driven by a single substance but is a dangerous polysubstance environment where users are often exposed to multiple potent drugs simultaneously.
- Non-Fatal Overdoses: The scale of non-fatal overdose events is partially illuminated by harm reduction efforts. In 2021, the Marion County Public Health department distributed 813 naloxone kits, which were used to reverse at least 200 known overdoses. While this number is an undercount—as it only captures reported reversals—it provides a crucial window into the hundreds of non-fatal overdoses occurring in the community annually, each one representing a potential future fatality.
The Ripple Effect: Crime in the Shadow of Addiction
The relationship between Marion’s drug crisis and its public safety is more complex than a simple cause-and-effect narrative might suggest. While it is often assumed that a rise in drug addiction will inevitably lead to a corresponding surge in all types of crime, the available data for Marion presents a more nuanced reality.
Violent crime rates in Marion have fluctuated significantly over the past two decades. The rate stood at 256.05 per 100,000 residents in 2010, rose to 294.94 in 2016 during a period of intense opioid activity, and was recorded at 281.45 in 2018. Property crime, however, tells a different story. After peaking at an alarmingly high rate of 6784.40 per 100,000 in 2011, it entered a period of steady and significant decline, falling to 2619.48 by 2018.
| Year | Violent Crime Rate (per 100,000) | Property Crime Rate (per 100,000) |
| 2001 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 2002 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 2003 | 207.24 | 5433.99 |
| 2004 | 272.90 | 4869.43 |
| 2005 | 223.41 | 4018.63 |
| 2006 | 246.32 | 5041.33 |
| 2007 | 269.63 | 4839.47 |
| 2008 | 194.43 | 4415.45 |
| 2009 | 159.74 | 4497.94 |
| 2010 | 256.05 | 5444.57 |
| 2011 | 265.84 | 6784.40 |
| 2012 | 264.40 | 5159.87 |
| 2014 | 269.28 | 4213.25 |
| 2016 | 294.94 | 3638.57 |
| 2017 | 276.01 | 2746.34 |
| 2018 | 281.45 | 2619.48 |
Note: Data for 2001-2002, 2013, and 2015 were not available in the provided sources. Rates are per 100,000 population.
This divergence between violent and property crime trends challenges the conventional wisdom that addiction universally drives theft. Several factors could explain this disconnect. First, policing priorities may have shifted to more aggressively target property offenses. Second, and more critically, the economics of the drug trade evolved. As the market shifted from expensive, diverted prescription pills to cheaper, more potent illicit heroin and fentanyl, the financial pressure on users to commit frequent property crimes to support their habit may have lessened. The nature of associated crime may have shifted away from petty theft and toward higher-stakes violence within and between trafficking networks—a type of crime less visible in broad public statistics. This complex dynamic means that broad declarations of a “drastic decline” in crime must be viewed with caution, as they may obscure the specific and evolving ways in which the drug crisis continues to impact community safety.
A Delayed Reaction and a Resilient Rebirth
While the opioid crisis was rapidly escalating, Marion’s official response was slow, a delay exacerbated by what amounted to a “silent sabotage” of the city’s ability to govern: a prolonged period of severe financial mismanagement. The city’s fiscal struggles were not a sudden development. As early as the mid-2000s, state audits flagged issues, including a Finding for Recovery in the 2006 audit against a former Deputy Auditor for being improperly overpaid.
The Ohio Auditor of State’s office repeatedly identified significant financial control issues that, for a municipality of Marion’s size, were deeply concerning and pointed to systemic problems.
These problems were compounded by the implementation of the New World financial software system around 2008. The system was plagued with problems, including a persistent software glitch that caused discrepancies between cash payments recorded in the utility department and the actual deposits made to the bank, nonfunctional reconciliation module which persistedat least until 2024; However we are not certain because we have not received any requested material from the current auditor. Shortly after it’s installation former auditor Carr received a shocking 22 infractions from the Ohio Auditor of State. This combined with documented thefts due to system manipulation and other issues propelled Marion Watch to demand a full forensic IT audit. The city’s own annual reports noted that many accounts in the New World system were missing correct parcel numbers and owner information, further complicating fiscal management. This technological turmoil, layered on top of existing mismanagement, culminated in a full-blown crisis in the City Auditor’s office. State audits issued a finding for recovery of $22,500 against a former auditor for penalties from late IRS filings in 2019, and another for nearly $154,000 against former City Auditor Robert Landon III after he erroneously sent city employee income tax withholdings to the State of Ohio instead of the IRS in 2020. This internal financial chaos, consuming the attention and resources of city leadership, directly hampered Marion’s ability to fund and coordinate a swift, robust public health response. With the city’s own budget in a state of prolonged instability, the capacity to expand crucial treatment and education options to combat the overdose epidemic was severely compromised just as the crisis was reaching its peak.
Yet, out of this period of struggle, a story of profound resilience emerged. In 2025, Marion was named the winner of the national “Strongest Town” contest, an award recognizing its commitment to bottom-up revitalization. The win was a testament to a community that battled through economic decline and the devastation of the opioid epidemic to rebuild itself. This transformation was driven by residents who stepped up when official action was lacking. As local business owner and recovery advocate Brad Belcher stated, “Instead of waiting for leaders to do something, local residents became the leaders we needed”. Belcher himself was an early actor, creating hundreds of yard signs in 2013 that read “Heroin Is Marion’s Economy” to force a public conversation about the crisis. He has since become a key figure in providing recovery services and housing. Similarly, former professional basketball player and Marion native Ed McCants has invested in the community’s youth, co-founding the “Hidden Gems” AAU program to provide positive pathways and mentorship, helping over 100 athletes land college scholarships. Ed McCants and Robert Landon assisted in organizing the Central Ohio March Maddness Against Addiction that garnered national attention on ESPN.
This grassroots energy has been supported by key institutional changes. Judge Warren T. Edwards of the Marion County Common Pleas Court has been a pivotal figure. Upon taking office in 2018, he revoked a 1999 “catch and release” order that had allowed felony offenders to be released due to jail overcrowding. He also established the county’s F.I.R.S.T. (Focusing on Individual Recovery, Success, and Treatment) Court, a specialized drug court, and a re-entry program to help individuals break the cycle of addiction and incarceration. During his tenure, Judge Edwards has secured over $5.43 million in grant funding for the court system, coinciding with a significant drop in crime rates. Between 2015 and 2021, burglaries decreased by 80% and thefts dropped by 49%.
Part II: The Statewide Struggle – Ohio’s Battle with the Overdose Epidemic
From “Pill Mills” to Fentanyl: Ohio’s Overdose Trajectory
The story of Marion is a single chapter in the much larger saga of Ohio’s struggle with the overdose epidemic. The state has consistently been one of the hardest-hit in the nation, a status earned over two decades of evolving crises. The epidemic’s roots are in the early 2000s, when the state’s rate of death from unintentional drug poisonings skyrocketed by 335% between 1999 and 2009. During this period, the crisis was driven almost entirely by the overprescribing and diversion of pharmaceutical opioids. In 2007, unintentional drug poisoning surpassed motor vehicle crashes to become the leading cause of injury death in Ohio for the first time on record.
As law enforcement cracked down on “pill mills” and prescribing practices tightened, the market adapted with deadly consequences. Users who had become dependent on prescription opioids turned to a cheaper and more readily available alternative: heroin. This set the stage for the third and most lethal wave of the epidemic, which began around 2013 with the introduction of illicitly manufactured fentanyl into the drug supply. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin, quickly saturated the market.
By 2022, fentanyl was involved in 81% of Ohio’s 4,915 unintentional overdose deaths. The data from the past decade reveals a dramatic and volatile polysubstance crisis. While total overdose deaths have shown recent declines—falling 9% from 2022 to 4,452 deaths in 2023—the composition of those deaths has shifted radically. Deaths involving heroin plummeted by 43% between 2021 and 2022 alone, while deaths involving stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamine continued to climb, often in combination with fentanyl.
| Year | Total Unintentional OD Deaths | Fentanyl-Involved | Heroin-Involved | Natural/Semi-Synthetic Opioids | Cocaine-Involved | Psychostimulants-Involved |
| 2013 | 2,110 | 84 | 983 | 464 | 405 | 49 |
| 2014 | 2,531 | 503 | 1,196 | 570 | 517 | 59 |
| 2015 | 3,050 | 1,155 | 1,424 | 628 | 685 | 96 |
| 2016 | 4,050 | 2,357 | 1,444 | 733 | 1,109 | 233 |
| 2017 | 4,854 | 3,431 | 987 | 812 | 1,540 | 537 |
| 2018 | 3,764 | 2,733 | 714 | 471 | 1,092 | 564 |
| 2019 | 4,028 | 3,070 | 520 | 370 | 1,206 | 827 |
| 2020 | 5,017 | 4,041 | 308 | 415 | 1,231 | 1,062 |
| 2021 | 5,174 | 4,137 | 159 | 390 | 1,506 | 1,338 |
| 2022 | 4,915 | 3,963 | 90 | 362 | 1,629 | 1,352 |
| 2023 | 4,452 | 3,486 | 75 (est.)* | 290 (est.)* | 1,738 | 1,267 |
Note: Data for 2013-2022 is from finalized annual reports. Data for 2023 is from the 2023 annual report, which provides final numbers for total, fentanyl, cocaine, and psychostimulants, but heroin and natural/semi-synthetic opioid figures are estimated based on reported percentage decreases from 2022.
Beyond the Fatalities: Tracking Non-Fatal Overdoses and Public Health Response
As the crisis evolved from one driven by pharmaceuticals to one dominated by a poisoned illicit supply, Ohio’s strategic response underwent a fundamental transformation. Recognizing the limitations of an enforcement-centric approach that had failed to stem the rising death toll, state leaders began to build a more robust public health surveillance infrastructure.
A landmark development in this shift occurred in 2024, when Governor Mike DeWine’s administration implemented a new rule mandating that all Ohio emergency departments (EDs) report non-fatal drug overdoses to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). This policy represents a crucial pivot from relying on lagging mortality data to capturing near real-time information on overdose events. The stated purpose of this rule is to improve the coordination of care, as individuals who experience a non-fatal overdose are at an exceptionally high risk of a future fatal overdose.
This new system provides public health officials with the ability to rapidly identify overdose spikes, geographic hotspots, and high-risk populations, allowing for the targeted deployment of resources like naloxone and fentanyl test strips. The data is fed into the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS), which flags patients with a recent non-fatal overdose for prescribers and pharmacists, creating a critical point-of-care opportunity for intervention. This move, coupled with the expansion of naloxone access through programs like Project DAWN (Deaths Avoided With Naloxone), signals an acknowledgment that the overdose crisis must be managed like a disease outbreak, with a focus on surveillance, prevention, and rapid response.
The Crossroads of Crime: Trafficking and Enforcement in the Buckeye State
Ohio’s geography places it at the center of the nation’s drug trafficking corridors. A dense network of major interstate highways, including I-70, I-71, I-75, and I-80, makes the state a prime logistical hub for criminal organizations moving illicit substances from the Southwest Border and other source areas to markets throughout the Midwest and the East Coast.
Law enforcement reporting indicates that Mexican drug trafficking organizations are the dominant force in the state, controlling the wholesale distribution of cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine. Columbus, in particular, has emerged as a key regional distribution center for these substances. The scale of this trafficking is immense. In 2022 alone, task forces under the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission (OOCIC) seized over $64 million worth of illegal narcotics, along with 437 firearms and $7.7 million in currency.
Statewide crime data reflects a long-term trend of improvement, even as the overdose crisis has raged. Ohio’s violent crime rate has been consistently lower than the national average, and its property crime rate, which was above the national rate from 2011-2017, has since fallen below it. From 2000 to 2018, Ohio’s violent crime rate per 100,000 people fell from 334.14 to 279.94, while the total number of property crimes dropped from 420,939 to figures consistently below 250,000 in later years. This statewide data reinforces the complex dynamic seen in Marion: a catastrophic rise in overdose deaths has not been accompanied by a corresponding rise in overall crime rates.
Part III: A Nation Under Siege – The U.S. Overdose Epidemic
The Three Waves of a National Tragedy
The experiences of Marion and Ohio are emblematic of a national public health disaster that has unfolded in three distinct, overlapping waves.
- Wave 1 (1999-2010): The crisis began with a dramatic increase in overdose deaths involving prescription opioids. This was fueled by a confluence of factors, including a shift in pain management practices, aggressive marketing by pharmaceutical companies, and the rise of “pill mills”.
- Wave 2 (2010-2013): As efforts to curb opioid prescribing took hold, the crisis shifted to heroin. Many individuals who had developed a dependency on prescription opioids turned to heroin as a cheaper, more accessible alternative.
- Wave 3 (2013-Present): The third and most devastating wave has been driven by the proliferation of synthetic opioids, primarily illicitly manufactured fentanyl and its analogs. These substances, often mixed with other drugs like heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine, or pressed into counterfeit pills, have caused an exponential increase in deaths due to their extreme potency.
The human cost of these three waves is staggering. From 2000 to 2014, nearly half a million people in the U.S. died from drug overdoses. By 2023, the total number of deaths since 1999 had surpassed one million. The national age-adjusted drug overdose death rate more than quadrupled between 2000 and 2022, rising from 6.2 per 100,000 to 32.6 per 100,000. While provisional data for 2023 and 2024 suggests a potential decline in fatal overdoses for the first time in years, the annual death toll remains catastrophically high.
| Year | Any Opioid | Prescription Opioids (Natural/Semi-Synthetic) | Heroin | Synthetic Opioids (e.g., Fentanyl) |
| 2000 | 8,407 | 4,423 | 1,844 | 730 |
| 2005 | 15,626 | 10,211 | 2,010 | 1,772 |
| 2010 | 21,155 | 12,028 | 3,036 | 2,056 |
| 2015 | 33,091 | 12,727 | 12,989 | 9,580 |
| 2020 | 68,630 | 14,139 | 13,165 | 56,516 |
| 2021 | 80,411 | 13,518 | 9,173 | 70,601 |
| 2022 | 82,197 | 11,048 | 5,888 | 73,838 |
| 2023 | 79,770 | 9,772 | 3,899 | 74,702 |
Note: Data is compiled from CDC WONDER and NCHS data briefs. Categories are not mutually exclusive; deaths may involve more than one substance. “Prescription Opioids” refers to natural and semi-synthetic opioids. “Synthetic Opioids” primarily reflects illicitly manufactured fentanyl in recent years.
The Hidden Toll: Understanding National Non-Fatal Overdose Data
For every fatal overdose, there are many more non-fatal events, each representing a traumatic experience for the individual and a critical opportunity for intervention. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracks this “hidden toll” through its Drug Overdose Surveillance and Epidemiology (DOSE) system.
The DOSE system has two main components. The first, DOSE-SYS, uses syndromic surveillance data from EDs across the country to provide a near real-time snapshot of suspected overdose trends. The second, DOSE-DIS, uses more finalized hospital discharge data to provide a more complete, albeit less timely, picture of the overdose burden.
This national surveillance effort has been critical in identifying the shift to a polysubstance crisis. While opioids, particularly fentanyl, remain the primary driver of fatal overdoses, stimulant involvement is a rapidly growing threat. CDC analysis of data from January 2021 to June 2024 found that 59% of all overdose deaths involved stimulants (cocaine or methamphetamine). Critically, 43.1% of all overdose deaths co-involved both stimulants and opioids, highlighting the extreme danger of today’s contaminated and unpredictable drug supply. This data confirms that the nation is no longer facing a singular “opioid crisis,” but rather a more complex and lethal polysubstance poisoning crisis.
National Crime and the Overdose Crisis
When we examine crime statistics alongside overdose data at the local, state, and national levels reveals its most profound implications when viewed through a national lens. While the overdose death rate has surged by over 400% since the turn of the century, the national crime rate has moved in the opposite direction.
According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, the overall combined violent and property crime rate in the United States fell by 45.2% between 2001 and 2023. Both violent crime and property crime have seen significant, sustained long-term declines over the same period that overdose deaths were climbing exponentially.
This stark divergence represents a “great decoupling” of drug use and crime in the national data. The traditional “War on Drugs” narrative, which has shaped public policy for half a century, is built on the premise that rising drug use inevitably fuels a rise in crime. The data since 2000 fundamentally challenges this assumption. It strongly suggests that the current crisis is not primarily a crime problem but a public health problem driven by a poisoned drug supply. The principal danger facing people who use drugs today is not the risk of arrest or drug-related violence, but the extreme lethality of an illicit market saturated with fentanyl. This reframes the entire policy debate, suggesting that a public health framework centered on harm reduction, treatment, and preventing death is more relevant and effective than a purely law enforcement-based approach.
Conclusion and Recommendations: From Remembrance to Systemic Change
The story of Marion, Ohio—a community grappling with economic decline, a volatile drug supply, gaps in public health data, and a complex crime landscape—is the story of countless towns and cities across the United States. The data, from the local to the national level, paints a consistent picture: a multifaceted public health crisis that has evolved faster than the systems designed to address it. It is a crisis that defies simplistic explanations and demands a sophisticated, evidence-based response.
On International Overdose Awareness Day, the most meaningful way to honor the more than one million Americans lost is to translate remembrance into systemic action. The following recommendations are derived from the analysis of the crisis as it has manifested from Marion to the nation as a whole.
- Invest in Hyperlocal, Real-Time Data: The “data black hole” observed in Marion highlights a critical vulnerability. Federal and state resources should be directed to local health departments to establish and maintain real-time overdose surveillance systems. This would empower communities to track both fatal and non-fatal overdoses, identify emerging drug threats, and deploy resources proactively, rather than reacting to year-old mortality statistics.
- Embrace a Comprehensive Harm Reduction Model: The data overwhelmingly shows that the immediate threat is a poisoned drug supply. The policy priority must be to keep people alive. This requires a massive scaling up of harm reduction services, including the widespread, no-cost distribution of naloxone and fentanyl test strips through programs like Ohio’s Project DAWN. These tools are the equivalent of fire extinguishers in a burning building—essential for immediate life-saving.
- Combat Stigma as a Public Health Priority: The message of IOAD is a powerful tool to reframe substance use disorder as a chronic disease, not a moral failing. Public awareness campaigns should be launched to this effect, encouraging individuals to seek help without fear of shame or punishment. Reducing stigma is not a peripheral issue; it is a core component of an effective public health response, as it directly impacts whether a person will access life-saving care.
- Integrate and Fund Co-Occurring Disorder Treatment: The national data confirms a polysubstance crisis, often co-occurring with mental health challenges. Funding and policy must shift toward integrated treatment models that can address a patient’s substance use disorder and underlying mental health conditions simultaneously. A siloed approach is no longer sufficient for the complex needs of the current patient population.
- Re-evaluate Public Safety Metrics: The “great decoupling” of overdose deaths and national crime rates necessitates a re-evaluation of how success is measured. While traditional crime metrics remain important, public safety and public health officials should also prioritize and track indicators more specific to the overdose crisis. These should include rates of non-fatal overdose, the number of individuals connected to treatment, naloxone distribution figures, and the availability of harm reduction services. Progress in saving lives, not just arrest numbers, must become a primary metric of success.
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- Marion County Sequential Intercept Mapping Report | NEOMED | https://www.neomed.edu/wp-content/uploads/Marion-County-MH-SIM-Report-Nov-2021.pdf
- Marion County Sheriff’s Department Scorecard | Police Scorecard | https://policescorecard.org/oh/sheriff/marion-county
- Marion Direct | Marion Area Chamber of Commerce | https://business.marionareachamber.org/list/member/marion-direct-9440
- Marion Direct opens The CruX Community Peer Support Center in Marion | Marion County Now | https://marioncountynow.com/news/277772-marion-direct-opens-the-crux-community-peer-support-center-in-marion/
- Marion named Strongest Town in nationwide contest | 10tv.com | https://www.10tv.com/article/news/community/marion-ohio-named-strongest-town/530-154ba888-d86d-482c-a7df-8a1f19f74509
- Marion OH Crime Rate 2001-2018 | MacroTrends | https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/cities/us/oh/marion/crime-rate-statistics
- Marion OH Property Crime Rate 2001-2018 | MacroTrends | https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/cities/us/oh/marion/property-crime-rate-statistics
- Marion Police Department Scorecard | Police Scorecard | https://policescorecard.org/oh/police-department/marion
- Marion Residents Discuss Heroin Issue Following Sign Campaign | 10tv.com | https://www.10tv.com/article/news/community/marion-residents-discuss-heroin-issue-following-sign-campaign/530-4b8fc470-bd85-4e79-9171-e625bce8b753
- Marion Struggles With Increasing Heroin Problem | WOSU News | https://www.wosu.org/news/2013-10-30/marion-struggles-with-increasing-heroin-problem
- MARMET Drug Task Force | https://mariontips.org/
- Men’s Basketball Signs Ed McCants to Letter of Intent | Northwestern Athletics | https://nusports.com/news/2000/4/12/Men_s_Basketball_Signs_Ed_McCants_to_Letter_of_Intent.aspx
- Non-Fatal Drug Overdose Indicator Quick Reference Guide | Ohio Board of Pharmacy | https://www.pharmacy.ohio.gov/NFOD
- Ohio Addiction Statistics | White Light Behavioral Health | https://whitelightbh.com/resources/ohio-addiction-statistics/
- Ohio Crime Rate 1979-2018 | MacroTrends | https://www.macrotrends.net/states/ohio/crime-rate-statistics
- Ohio Crime Rates 1960 – 2019 | The Disaster Center | https://www.disastercenter.com/crime/ohcrime.htm
- Ohio Facts: Violent and Property Crime Rates | LSC Ohio | https://www.lsc.ohio.gov/assets/organizations/legislative-service-commission/files/2022-ohio-facts-violent-and-property-crime-rates-september-2022.pdf
- Ohio HIDTA Drug Threat Assessment | NDIC | https://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/pubs23/23700/23700p.pdf
- OPINION: Marion crime rates in drastic decline | Marion County Now | https://marioncountynow.com/news/277772-opinion-marion-crime-rates-in-drastic-decline/
- Overdose Awareness Day | Alcohol and Drug Foundation | https://adf.org.au/insights/overdose-awareness-day/
- Overdose Deaths and Jail Incarceration: Ohio | Vera Institute of Justice | https://www.vera.org/publications/overdose-deaths-and-jail-incarceration/oh
- Overdose Prevention Data & Research | CDC | https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/data-research/facts-stats/index.html
- Project DAWN | Ohio Department of Health | https://odh.ohio.gov/know-our-programs/project-dawn/project-dawn
- Recognizing International Overdose Awareness Day and the Role of Public Health | Rutgers SPH | https://sph.rutgers.edu/news/together-we-can-recognizing-international-overdose-awareness-day-and-role-public-health
- Report: Unintentional Drug Overdose Deaths Fell 5% in 2022 | ODH News Release | https://odh.ohio.gov/media-center/odh-news-releases/odh-news-release-12-15-23
- Stimulant-Involved Overdose Deaths | CDC MMWR | https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/wr/mm7432a1.htm
- Table 8 – Ohio – Crime/Law Enforcement Stats | FBI UCR | https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/table-8/10tbl08oh.xls
- The Epidemic of Prescription Drug Overdoses in Ohio | Ohio Department of Health | https://odh.ohio.gov/wps/wcm/connect/gov/5a0bbf8a-8d88-49e5-bdc-56ca28c2104c/Epidemic_of_Prescription_Drug_Overdose_Ohio_Report.pdf
- The history of the Marion Co. Courthouse comes alive for a group of Buckeyes | The Ohio State University at Marion | https://osumarion.osu.edu/story/marion-co-courthouse-history-comes-alive-group-buckeyes
- The Opioid Epidemic in the United States | SHADAC | https://www.shadac.org/opioid-epidemic-united-states
- The Platform | Edwards for Judge | https://edwardsforjudge.com/
- The Votes are in… Marion, Ohio, Is the Strongest Town of 2025! | OCCD | https://www.occd.org/blog/2025/04/10/the-votes-are-in-marion-ohio-is-the-strongest-town-of-2025
- U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths More Than Quadrupled from 1999 to 2020 | Florida Atlantic University | https://www.fau.edu/newsdesk/articles/drug-overdose-deaths.php
- U.S. Overdose Deaths Decrease Almost 27% in 2024 | CDC | https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2025/20250514.htm
- Understanding the Opioid Overdose Epidemic | CDC | https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/about/understanding-the-opioid-overdose-epidemic.html
- Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program | FBI | https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/more-fbi-services-and-information/ucr
- W. Tom Edwards | Judicial Votes Count | https://www.judicialvotescount.org/find-your-candidates/2024-general/marion/w-tom–edwards-2980/
- Warren T. Edwards Bio | Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office | https://www.muskingumprosecutor.org/Our-Office/Team-Members/Bio/Warren-T-Edwards/
- What are friends for? | Marion County Public Health Department | https://marionhealth.org/friends/
- What is the crime rate in the US? | USAFacts | https://usafacts.org/answers/what-is-the-crime-rate-in-the-us/country/united-states/