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Sheriff's Deputies Getting New Weapon To Fight Opioid Overdoses

SANTA CLARITA (CBSLA.com) – First-responders could soon have a new weapon to combat opioid overdoses in L.A. County.

Experts say opioid use is killing more people than car crashes and guns, CBS2/KCAL9's Amy Johnson reports.

But a nasal spray called NARCAN is giving drug-addiction specialist Cary Quashen hope.

"Every first-responder should have this," he said.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department will soon begin training deputies to use the life-saving prescription medicine.

"We actually call this a miracle drug. Because somebody who is overdosing on opiates – this will turn that around immediately and bring them right out of the overdose," Quashen said.

The LASD has purchases 650 boxes of NARCAN and an additional 5,000 doses are being paid for with a grant, Johnson reports.

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