By EMS1 Staff

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — A city councilman – frustrated by the growing opioid epidemic – no longer wants EMS to respond to overdose calls

WFTV reported that Middletown city councilman Dan Picard questioned if there's a law that requires responders to take overdose calls. He said that cancer patients don’t get free chemotherapy from EMS providers, nor do heart attack patients receive a free heart bypass, according to the report.

“I want to send a message to the world that you don’t want to come to Middletown to overdose, because someone might not come with Narcan and save your life,” Picard said. “We need to put a fear about overdosing in Middletown.”

Middletown is on track to spend $100,000 on naloxone in 2017, despite a budget of $10,000.