If like many — if not most — Butler County residents, you expected 2018 to continue last year’s heartbreaking wave of opioid overdose deaths, the first two months of the year have proved to be a very pleasant surprise.

After 92 overdose deaths in 2017, Butler County has reported only three so far in 2018. Only one of those was reportedly due to fentanyl toxicity — another encouraging sign given that many overdose deaths last year were attributed to the powerful synthetic opioid.

For comparison, by this time last year 15 people had died of overdoses.

Don’t mistake our celebration for a declaration of victory. The county, state and nation are still firmly in the grip of a crisis of opioid abuse, addiction and deaths.

But that makes it all the more vital we celebrate when the news is good — and an 80 percent reduction in opioid-related deaths through the first two months of the year is indisputably very good news.

What does it mean in the long term, and what is responsible for the dramatic reduction? That’s anyone’s guess at this point.

But if you held our feet to the fire we would give credit to a variety of organizations and people: those who organized public meetings to help push back against the stigma surrounding addiction; the police and EMS workers who have been using Narcan to save the lives of dozens of overdose victims; friends and family members of addicts who told their loved ones’ stories and put a human face to the crisis; and the treatment service providers that help recovering addicts reclaim their lives.

Just like there is plenty of blame to go around when it comes to the genesis of this crisis, there is plenty of praise to go around when we talk about positive developments.

We would also remind people that there is much work left to be done before anyone walks around declaring that the worst is over. Butler County did not climb from 13 overdose deaths in 2013 to 92 overnight, and we won’t magically eliminate this problem either.

The county is on a positive trajectory because of the hard work and dedication of people here. But, as Gov. Tom Wolf said in January when he declared the opioid crisis a state health emergency, there is no “silver bullet.” Narcan may save lives, but it doesn’t cure an addict’s dependance on the substances that will likely kill them one day.

Putting this crisis behind us requires a no-stone-left-unturned approach. It requires us to listen to experts, to communities and to recovering addicts and determine what more we can do to address the issue.

It will also likely cost a lot of money — because make no mistake, addiction is a powerful, deadly and persistent disease. And yes, it is everyone’s problem.

This crisis stresses emergency and social services agencies, law enforcement, health care providers, families and entire communities. It’s up to everyone to continue the fight and build off the positive momentum of the last two months.