Nearly two weeks ago employees at The Butler Eagle’s production facility — the place this very page was printed this morning — on West Wayne Street expressed shock as a dark-colored Jeep pulled out of their parking lot.

In its wake the vehicle, and the two men inside it, left several police cruisers and an ambulance. A fire engine spun its lights where it had been parked along the street opposite the building’s entrance.

Public resources — time, energy and a life-saving antidote — were expended to save a man’s life from what police identified as a heroin overdose. Then the man refused medical treatment, got back into the same vehicle he had used as a drug den, and went on with his day.

Eagle employees were flabergasted. Shouldn’t the man be arrested? He had just nearly died after using an illegal drug. Was he really going to be allowed to leave, just like that?

Unfortunately, this is a common scene at drug overdoses, and it needs to stop. But emergency responders lack the tools to do anything about it. Instead, they must often endure a vicious cycle that includes saving the life of the same overdose victims over and over again, only to have those people refuse treatment and walk away.

Yes, police could arrest addicts after an overdose, but that’s the wrong answer. It pushes drug users even further onto the margins of society, reducing the chances they will receive the medical or psychological treatment they need. The prospect of getting arrested also reduces the chance that fellow users will call for help whenever the next overdose occurs.

If the point is to stop overdose deaths and help addicts reclaim control over their lives, police and EMS workers with the antidote narcan in their pockets have one proper tool. But their efficacy currently ends after an overdose death is prevented.

To do more they need more authority, and that’s exactly what a task force report issued Wednesday proposes giving them. The report, “A Continuum of Care Approach: Western Pennsylvania’s Response to the Opioid Epidemic,” urges state legislators to pass a law giving first responders the authority to require overdose survivors to spend 72 hours under monitored care while receiving medical treatment.

There are questions about the cost of such a measure, as well as who would pay and whether Pennsylvania’s treatment infrastructure would be up to handling the influx of mandatory commmitments. But in terms of common-sense approaches to the problem, this is a slam dunk.

Seventy-two hours is not enough time to cure an addict of his or her drug dependence. But it can take them through the worst of physical withdrawl symptoms and shed light on a task that, to many addicts, may seem insurmountable.

Drug addiction, and the choice to get clean, are both deeply personal issues. People have to want to kick the habit in order to be successful. But it’s hard to make life-changing decisions while in a drug-fueled haze. Mandatory treatment, even if it’s short term, can give addicts a chance to make that call with a clear head.