Earlier this month, drug stores and pharmacies nationwide began stocking and selling the country's first over-the-counter version of naloxone, a medication that can stop a potentially fatal overdose from opioids. It's sold as a nasal spray under the brand name Narcan.
Coming off a year with a record number of drug overdose deaths in the United States — nearly 110,000 in 2022, according to the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics – community health workers and addiction medicine experts were hopeful that the arrival of Narcan on retail shelves might make it easier for people to get the medication.
