A sheriff in an Ohio county with record numbers of drug deaths in recent years is sticking to his longstanding refusal to allow deputies to carry an overdose antidote.

Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones remains opposed for safety reasons because, he asserts, people can become hostile and violent after being revived with naloxone.

The drug is known as it's brand name Narcan and can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Deputies in neighboring counties in southwest Ohio do carry it.

'I don't do Narcan,' Jones told The Cincinnati Enquirer. 'They never carried it. Nor will they. That's my stance.'

Butler County sheriff Richard Jones (file above) is sticking to his long-standing refusal to allow deputies to carry overdose-reversal drug Narcan

The Butler County Sheriff (file above) says he remains opposed for safety reasons because people can become hostile and violent after being revived with Narcan. Deputies in neighboring counties in southwest Ohio do carry it

He insisted that he's not heartless, but the cost of repeatedly administering Narcan is 'sucking the taxpayers dry.'

'All we're doing is reviving them, we're not curing them,' Jones told NBC News on Friday. 'One person we know has been revived 20 separate times.'

But he added, 'We don't go there and let people die.'

'Here in Ohio, the live squads (paramedics) get in there about the same time and they're more equipped to use Narcan,' Jones told NBC News

'The people who use drugs don't usually like the police and they turn violent once they're revived.

'Some police departments that use Narcan won't even allow police to use it unless there's two officers on the scene.

'The police feel unsafe using this Narcan because they have to get down on their knees, squirt it into their nose, and the people they are saving are not happy to see them. They're angry as hell.'

Health professionals say people coming to after being given naloxone (file above)are often groggy and confused and may experience withdrawal but do not typically become violent

County emergency crews administer naloxone, and the Butler County Health Department has been offering free kits to relatives and friends of people with addiction.

'There's no law that say police officers have to carry Narcan,' Jones told NBC News. 'Until there is, we're not going to use it.'

Jones' latest comments came after a city councilman in Butler County's Middletown drew national attention with his suggestion that emergency crews should stop responding to people who repeatedly overdose.

Jones (file above) said there isn't a law requiring officers to carry Narcan and 'until there is, we're not going to use it'

Councilman Dan Picard also suggested that people who overdose should be forced to perform community service to make up for the cost of an emergency run.

Middletown's city manager responded with a statement that the city continues to respond to every call.

Health professionals say people coming to after being given naloxone are often groggy and confused and may experience withdrawal but do not typically become violent.

Ohio is among the states hit hardest by the opioid crisis. Butler County, near Cincinnati, had a record 192 drug overdose deaths last year.

The county coroner has said it is on pace for other record year in 2017.

Jones, an early supporter of Donald Trump's Republican presidential campaign, has gotten national attention before on his tough talk on illegal immigration.

He has written to the Mexican government, calling for reimbursement for housing in the county jails immigrants in the U.S. illegally.