SAN ANTONIO -- Cities across the nation are working to crackdown on the opioid epidemic.

In South and Central Texas, major cities like San Antonio and Austin are also trying to find ways to prevent the numbers from climbing.

Bexar County will be getting a $3 million federal grant to combat the problem with opioid reversal drugs and community training.

"We've been in denial for a lot of years about the pervasiveness of opioids," said Lori Holleran Steiker, University of Texas at Austin Social Work Professor.

Dr. Bryan Alsip, University Health System Executive VP and Chief Medical Officer, said the situation usually starts with someone who is taking a medication given to them by a provider who is honestly trying to manage their pain.

Medical experts say it doesn't take long before opioid dependency becomes a slippery slope.

"So what we have seen is that people have gone to the streets for synthetic versions and pressed pills that very often right now are contaminated with all kinds of garbage," Steiker said.

Opioid addiction doesn't discriminate. Bexar County currently leads the state in infant opioid withdrawal and has the third highest per capita rate of overdose deaths in Texas.

"It's a very deadly drug. Just one part, one of the synthetics is 50 to 100 times stronger than Heroin," said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff.

Since August, the county's Joint Opioid Task Force has been cracking down on the epidemic. The most recent development comes in the form of a $3M Federal grant for opioid reversal drugs like Naloxone or Narcan.

It can be injected or used as a nasal spray.

"Part of the grant is really to get it in the hands of traditional first responders like police, EMS, fire, and so forth. But also to the lay person. Schools should have them available, university campuses should have them available, people who essentially understand how it can be used can save lives," Alsip said.

Steiker participates with the task force and says the school has been working on this issue for a while now.

"We were actually able to train all the resident advisors at the University of Texas, the UT Police Department are all trained in Naloxone administration and overdose response," said Steiker.

UT is also training its future medical professionals to be prepared and informed about the treatment.

"We're making sure health professionals of the future are going to have knowledge of opioid use disorders and overdose prevention," Steiker said.

"It will save lives if they administer it and giving time for EMS to get here and get them to the hospital. So it's a life saver," said Wolff.

In addition to this effort, Bexar County Commissioners have directed the District Attorney's office to hire an outside firm to sue opioid manufacturers on the county's behalf.

Any proceeds that would come from that lawsuit would go directly toward treatment and research for Bexar County citizens battling with opioid addictions