Drug maker Emergent BioSolutions is seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration to sell Narcan over the counter, without need for a prescription.

California schools can already carry naloxone, and many do, Patterson said. The Los Angeles Unified School District announced in September that it planned to make naloxone — also known by the brand name Narcan — available at every campus, as well as to take other safety and support measures. The announcement was made after several students in the district died of suspected fentanyl poisoning.

This is the first time officers in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray are receiving the personal issue kit, with more officers to be trained and equipped in the near future. There are 1,107 total local police officers in the north-east division.

Prisoners are helping one another prevent drug deaths when they are released by giving potentially life-saving Naloxone training and drug advice. People leaving jail are highly vulnerable to overdose in the days and weeks after release and many have died as a result.

Harm reduction programs will face fewer barriers to obtaining and distributing naloxone — a lifesaving drug which can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose — thanks to new federal guidance. Issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September and effective immediately upon release, the new guidance clarifies existing laws and regulations regarding the distribution of naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan.