A Weymouth firefighter has been suspended without pay for 90 days after a post on his Facebook page suggested that opioid users be left to die instead of revived with Narcan, a drug used by emergency workers to reverse overdoses.

Mayor Robert Hedlundrevealed the punishment Monday after the posting went viral on social media and prompted a cascade of outrage from across the country.

The post read: “Narcan is the worst drug ever created, let the (deleted) bags die. I for one get no extra money for giving Narcan and these losers are out of the hospital and using again in hours. You use, you should loose [sic].’’

The firefighter, who was not been identified, also has been ordered to undergo sensitivity and social-media training and will be assigned to a desk job when he returns.

The controversy refocused attention on the lingering stigma surrounding opioid addiction in Massachusetts, where more than 1,000 deaths were linked to heroin and other opioids in 2014. The tally for 2015 is expected to be higher.

In Weymouth, one of the state’s harder-hit communities, 24 people died of suspected or confirmed opioid overdoses in 2013 and 2014, according to the state Department of Public Health.

Joanne Peterson, who founded Learn to Cope to support families afflicted by addiction, said she was saddened when she learned of the posting.

“I felt sorry for all the families of the deceased and also all the families who have friends and loved ones who have or are struggling through this epidemic,’’ Peterson said. “I also could tell it hasn’t affected him personally yet. If it had, he would feel much differently.’’

Weymouth Fire Chief Keith Stark condemned the posting and said its lack of compassion for addicts and overdose victims is not reflective of the department.

Stark’s statement was echoed elsewhere by fire and police officials, who said Weymouth has a progressive reputation for dealing with overdose victims. Not only is Narcan used routinely at the scene, but the department follows up with victims and their families.

“It’s kind of ironic because the Weymouth firefighters are a model,’’ said Edward Kelly, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts, whose 12,000 members voted unanimously in 2012 to endorse carrying Narcan.

“Clearly, this strikes me as someone who is not in their right frame of mind,’’ Kelly said of the firefighter behind the controversial post.

Kelly estimated that Narcan is carried by 90 percent of the 212 departments in Massachusetts that belong to the labor organization. “We knew it was a lifesaving tool,’’ said Kelly, a member of the Boston Fire Department.

The post also was attacked by William Ostiguy, a retired Boston firefighter who ran the department’s Employee Assistance Program for 25 years.

“We work so hard, and then to have this ridiculous comment,’’ Ostiguy said. “When I got sworn in, it was to protect and serve, and sometimes you have to protect people from themselves.’’

Narcan is a marketing name for the drug naloxone, which Governor Charlie Baker and his predecessor, Deval Patrick, have worked to make more accessible to emergency workers and the families and loved ones of opioid addicts.

The town of Braintree, for example, has used Narcan to reverse 166 overdoses since 2014, according to Fire Chief James O’Brien. However, the growing use of Narcan statewide has led to sporadic sniping that addicts are being encouraged to use heroin and other opioids in the expectation that they will be revived.

Detective Lieutenant Patrick Glynn of the Quincy police, a national pioneer in the use of Narcan, scoffed at the notion that the drug is enabling addicts who need to be revived multiple times.

“The amount of repeats is not significant. That is a myth,’’ Glynn said. In any event, he added, “we can’t put a limit on it. We don’t put another checkmark on someone’s wrist and say, ‘You met your quota.’ ’’

Jay Colbert, secretary treasurer of the Massachusetts professional firefighters group, offered an alternate description of Narcan. Instead of the “worst drug ever,’’ Colbert said, “we call it the miracle drug.’’

“In my own immediate family, we’ve had people with this affliction. I know better than most, and not as well as some, how challenging an addiction this is,’’ Colbert said. “This is an aberration that we have a member who feels this way.’’

Peterson, the Learn to Cope founder, said the Facebook controversy should spur discussion about overdose-related stress faced by emergency workers.

“There is an opportunity here for a dialogue . . . on training on compassion fatigue for first responders,’’ she said.

Brian MacQuarrie can be reached at brian.macquarrie@globe.com.