Today's Moderator, Ron Rollins, can we ignore drug overdoses?

This headline caught our eye: "Middletown council member: Can we stop responding to overdoses?"

Is the best way to handle OD's to ignore them? Staff writer Ed Richter writes: "Frustration over the amount of money and public safety services being devoted to drug overdoses led to one Middletown City Council member asking if it was possible for the city to not respond to such calls.

“Saying the city needs to think outside the box, Middletown City Council member Dan Picard asked if it was possible for EMS to not respond to overdose calls. Noting people with cancer don’t get free chemotherapy from medics nor do people having heart attacks get a free heart bypass in an EMS run, Picard asked if there was a law that requires the city to respond to overdose calls. The city is on pace to spend $100,000 for Narcan when it budgeted $10,000 for the entire year, according to City Manager Doug Adkins,” Richter wrote.

“Picard … suggested issuing a court summons to a person who overdoses and ordering them to complete community service to work off the costs of the EMS run and Narcan.”

Your thoughts? Email rrollins@coxohio.com.

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About the Author

Ron Rollins