HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. — Henderson County Sheriff Charles McDonald released a statement Friday about an image circulated in his department that made a joke about the drug Narcan.
Narcan is used as an antidote for drug overdoses, often to reverse the effects of opioids and heroin.
The image sent to News 13 on Thursday contains text that said Narcan has been “Robbing Darwin of his bountiful harvest since 1971.”
The anonymous sender said the sheriff “thinks this opioid crisis is funny” and thinks “these deaths are funny and by this picture thinks lives should not be saved.”
McDonald said in his statement the image was from a May 23 interdepartmental email of crime analysis information and contained a “tasteless attempt at humor.”
“Regarding the offensive slide, there is no excuse for it regardless of the intention,” the sheriff said. “I’m told it was an attempt at dark humor, but it was in no way humorous, and I know it does not reflect the true heart of the actual sender, or that of our staff and volunteers.”
McDonald said he accepted the image happened on his watch and called it a lapse in judgment. He said “the issue has been dealt with appropriately according to our policy and guidelines.”
The sheriff said his office was one of the first agencies in the are to train and equip deputies with Narcan.
“I am aware that every person saved is someone’s child, parent, spouse, neighbor or employee caught in a desperate web of addiction from which I am certain they desire to be free,” McDonald said.