Opioid overdoses can be reversed by a drug called naloxone that can be used in a nasal spray or injected. One group giving the drug out for free in Arizona has reached a benchmark number.
Sonoran Prevention Works has distributed more than 100,000 naloxone doses since last January.
In less than two years, the group has noted that the drug, also known by the brand name Narcan, was used more than 4,500 times.
According to Sonoran Prevention Works, that number of lives saved is conservative because not every overdose reversal is reported.
The Arizona Department of Health Services says 1,723 people in the state have died from opioid overdoses since last June. And, 11,391 people are suspected to have overdosed.
