Ohio city’s ultimatum to heroin addicts: Get help or go to jail

An Ohio city is giving an ultimatum to heroin addicts: Seek help or go to jail. That’s the approach Miamisburg – a city just south of Dayton – is taking after a deadly start to 2017. Miamisburg is on track to have five times the number of overdoses this year compared to 2016. Miamisburg Police Sgt. Jeff Muncy told our partners at WDTN-TV that if a person overdoses in Miamisburg and survives, they will likely face criminal charges – unless they decide to get help. “You either seek treatment, or you go to jail,” Muncy told WDTN-TV. "By charging people for overdosing, the various crimes they commit when they do it, it gives the judge some leverage to push them toward getting help," Muncy added. The numbers prove just how serious the epidemic is in Miamisburg. In 2016, 87 people overdosed and 10 died within the city. Through only the first couple of months this year, 50 people have overdosed and nine have died.

An Ohio city is giving an ultimatum to heroin addicts: Seek help or go to jail.

That’s the approach Miamisburg – a city just south of Dayton – is taking after a deadly start to 2017.


Miamisburg is on track to have five times the number of overdoses this year compared to 2016.

Miamisburg Police Sgt. Jeff Muncy told our partners at WDTN-TV that if a person overdoses in Miamisburg and survives, they will likely face criminal charges – unless they decide to get help.

“You either seek treatment, or you go to jail,” Muncy told WDTN-TV.

"By charging people for overdosing, the various crimes they commit when they do it, it gives the judge some leverage to push them toward getting help," Muncy added.

The numbers prove just how serious the epidemic is in Miamisburg.

In 2016, 87 people overdosed and 10 died within the city. Through only the first couple of months this year, 50 people have overdosed and nine have died.