If you need any more evidence that the opioid epidemic in Ohio has reached truly gruesome depths, consider that an elected official recently publicly pondered whether his community’s first responders should keep saving overdose victims.

City Councilman Dan Picard from Middletown recently asked during a council meeting whether authorities were legally required to revive overdose victims with naloxone.

The cost of the drug is beginning to mount for the small southwest Ohio city. Middletown expects to spend as much as $100,000 on naloxone this year — about 10 times as much as officials had budgeted for the drug.

“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,” Mr. Picard said.

Mr. Picard might feel differently if the person who overdosed were a member of his family. The opioid epidemic has touched many hardworking families not formerly acquainted with addiction.

But he is not alone in his frustration with the cost of the opioid overdose crisis in Ohio. Many lives and many dollars are being lost. And it is natural to be frustrated with the power of these drugs and the grip of this particular addiction.

God willing, Mr. Picard is alone in thinking that a community ought to put a literal price on any human life. But the crisis is truly overwhelming communities like Middletown, and many officials are at their wits’ end.

New statistics show 288 people died of opioid overdoses last year in the 21-county region of northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. There were 215 fatal opioid overdoses in the region recorded in 2015 and 145 in 2014.

This is, sadly, not surprising given the anecdotal testimony of law enforcement officials, educators, and brokenhearted parents in our region.

A realistic and well-ordered community would respond to the still-rising numbers of overdoses with urgency and focus. But Ohio is still not doing that. Where is the statewide strategy for stemming the tide of opioid deaths? Where is the state and federal funding adequate to help Ohio cities and small Ohio towns deal with the crisis? Where are the detox and treatment resources for addicts? Ironically, the naloxone expenses Mr. Picard deplores are really the least of it all.

Instead of condemning a city councilman overwhelmed by the toll of the opioid crisis, Ohio government and Ohio philanthropists should respond with the resources communities like his need to cope with the opioid addiction epidemic.

First Published July 5, 2017, 4:00 a.m.