Economics
Surviving a Heroin Overdose May Soon Depend on Where You Live
As opioids sweep across the nation, one Ohio county wants to make a lifesaving drug widely available. Another has a much harsher approach.
Medical workers and police treat a woman who has overdosed on heroin, the second case in a matter of minutes, in Warren, Ohio.
Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images North AmericaThis article is for subscribers only.
In southwest Ohio, people die from drug overdoses at more than double the national rate. In the future, whether someone survives could hinge on what county they’re in.
The sheriff in Butler County this summer declared that his officers wouldn’t carry medication to reverse overdoses. In Middletown, a city of 49,000 that overlaps the county, a council member frustrated by ballooning costs went even further, suggesting ambulance crews shouldn’t have to save the lives of some people who have been revived before.