Timeline: As the opioid epidemic rages, how did we get here?

Chemists in the last century also learned to create the drug on their own. During the 1990s, treating pain became a priority for medical providers, and drug makers produced and marketed a number of prescription opioids.

In the past few years, the problem exploded. Scroll through the timeline below to learn key dates and find out how even stronger drugs like fentanyl worsened the crisis and what Ohio and Dayton are doing to fight the opioid epidemic.