Let Addicts Die - Oh Councilman's Suggestion For Town's Overdose Problem

By By Cleve R. Wootson Jr. The Washington Post Under a plan by a city council member in Ohio, people who dial 911 seeking help for someone who's overdosing on opioids may start hearing something new from dispatchers: "No." In response to the opioid epidemic that swept the nation - including the small city of Middletown, population 50,000 - Council member Dan Picard has floated an idea that has been called more of "a cry of frustration" than a legitimate solution. At a council meeting last week, Picard proposed a three-strikes-style policy for people who repeatedly overdose: Too many overdoses and authorities wouldn't send an ambulance to resuscitate them. Across the country, opioids killed more than 33,000 people in 2015, more than any year on record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The epidemic is ravaging populations across racial and socioeconomic lines, according to The Post's Joel Achenbach and Dan Keating.