CINCINNATI (AP) — State Supreme Court justices and other high-ranking officials are trying to coordinate efforts to battle the drug abuse epidemic at a judicial summit involving some of the hardest-hit U.S. states.

Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor has opened a three-day conference in Cincinnati aimed at identifying best practices for treatment, sharing prescription drug data and generally learning more about working across borders and jurisdictions.

States participating are Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia were among the five states with the highest rates of drug overdose deaths in 2014, while Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia were among 14 that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified with significant drug overdose death rate increases from 2013 to 2014.