FRANKLIN TWP — Chief Deputy Sheriff Mark Peffer said Butler County’s drug problems differ greatly from when he joined the Butler police department nearly three decades ago.

“Things were a lot different back in 1987,” said Peffer, now in the county sheriff’s department. “The main problem in the city at the time was alcohol.”

Peffer said only the “seasoned” officers at the time told stories of people in the early 1970s using LSD and some heroin. He said while alcohol was disruptive to the community, it was not as dangerous as the drug epidemic now going through the county.

“We would take someone to a holding cell for a couple hours to sober up, give him a citation and send him on his way,” he said. “It wasn’t nearly as deadly.”

While crack cocaine became a major problem in Butler in the 1990s, Peffer said the drug epidemic today centers on heroin and other opioids, including some common and powerful prescription drugs.

The county coroner reported 47 drug-related overdose deaths in 2015, a spike from the 33 the year before. Heroin caused 30 of those deaths while 9 were from fentanyl — a strong prescription painkiller.

Heroin and other opioid overdoses can quickly become fatal.

But Peffer said naloxone — the so-called antidote to an overdose — can save lives if carried by police and first responders.

“This is a game changer,” he said.

A naloxone training breakfast was held Friday at the Atrium. It was hosted by the Ellen O’Brien Gaiser Center, the Center for Community Resources and the Hope for Broken Hearts support Group.

Peffer and Dr. Bryan Negrini were two of the speakers at the program attended by more than 100 people.

Peffer said it is important for police officers to carry naloxone, and said most departments in the county have started to do so.

The county last year received a grant for about 180 kits of naloxone, which were distributed to police departments.

“We’re dedicated to protect and serve,” he said of police. “That means everybody. I’m glad the police have jumped on board with this.”

Negrini is the medical director at the Gaiser Center, but also works in the emergency room at Butler Memorial Hospital.

He said drug addiction is difficult to overcome.

“After a couple weeks of use, your brain structurally changes,” he said. “It is a disease.”

Negrini said the naloxone kits are a tool often used by paramedics in the field and in the ER.

“Last night we used it three times,” he said referring to Thursday night.

The drug is given to a patient either through a nasal spray or through an injection. Both methods are easy to use and pose little threat, even if a person is mistakenly thought to be suffering from an overdose.

“Naloxone will not hurt or kill anyone,” Negrini said. “Don’t worry about that.”

Negrini said the drug can cause withdrawal symptoms in patients.

“They can become very aggravated, very confused and very disoriented,” he said. “You go through withdrawal and get immediately sick.”

But the side effects are better than the alternative, Negrini said.

Naloxone was made available to all first responders through state Act 139 of 2014. People close to at-risk individuals also are now able to get a prescription for the drug.

Peffer said getting the drug into the hands of people can help prolong a life until trained paramedics arrive at the scene.

“It can be a bridge,” he said.