Abigail Moore with the San Antonio Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (SACADA) describes the heartbreaking impact.

“About 30 babies are born a month with opioid in their system at just one local hospital. The new grant money will ensure when someone overdoses or when babies are born addicted, help is right there. We’re going to put recovery support coaches in emergency rooms and also in the neonatal where babies are born and these moms are testing positive as they’re giving birth,” Moore says.

The multimillion dollar grant will also help train doctors and pharmacists to recognize signs of abuse.

“We wanted to get ahead of the curve,” says Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff.  “Get other entities to use it besides first responders, whether it’s campuses or nurses in schools,” Judge Wolff says.

And SACADA will soon start distributing a new tool to help you safely throw away medicine. SACADA has medication deactivation pouches the community can use to destroy opioid medications by contacting SACADA 210-225-4741