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Cops: Photos Of Boy With Passed-Out Adults Show Drug Scourge

EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio police department said it is trying to illustrate the impact of the heroin and painkiller epidemic by sharing photos of a 4-year-old boy sitting in a vehicle behind slumped-over adults who were later revived with an overdose antidote.

In a Facebook message, East Liverpool police said they are sorry if people are offended, but they want the public to see what happens and they want to be a voice for the child who witnessed the scene.

"We feel it necessary to show the other side of this horrible drug," police said. "We feel we need to be a voice for the children caught up in this horrible mess. This child can't speak for himself but we are hopeful his story can convince another user to think twice about injecting this poison while having a child in their custody."

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Police in East Liverpool, Ohio released these images they say to illustrate the impact of the heroin and painkiller epidemic. (City of East Liverpool, Ohio/Facebook)

Police said an officer watched the vehicle weave erratically and stop, then approached and noticed signs the driver was impaired. The officer said the driver indicated he was taking his unconscious female passenger to a hospital, then became unresponsive himself.

The officer called paramedics, who revived the pair.

They face child-endangering and other charges.

(TM and © Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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