Photo via Flickr user Mike Mozart
Read: How to Make Drug Taking Better in 2016Health officials in New York have announced that 479 CVS pharmacies across the state will begin selling naloxone, the opiate overdose antidote also known as Narcan, over the counter.New York is the 15th state in the country to allow sale of the overdose reversal agent at CVS stores without a prescription, following in the footsteps of California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Montana, North Carolina, and more."Over 44,000 people die from accidental drug overdoses every year in the United States and most of those deaths are from opioids, including controlled substance pain medication and illegal drugs such as heroin," CVS's Tom Davis said in a statement last fall."Naloxone is a safe and effective antidote to opioid overdoses and by providing access to this medication in our pharmacies without a prescription in more states, we can help save lives."The potentially life-saving medication is not possible to abuse, according to New York's health department, because it only takes effect when users have opiates in their system.The ability to buy it without a prescription is a big step toward cutting down heroin-related deaths, since Narcan counteracts an overdose significantly better than a needle of adrenaline straight into the heart.