DALLAS — Blaine is a recovering addict, clean for two years now, who remembers the day that Narcan saved his life.
"Yeah, I probably wouldn't be here," he said if the emergency treatment for opioid overdoses had not been available. "Probably wouldn't."
Blaine's struggles, and those of his sister, began with prescription pain-killers given to them by doctors after back and neck surgeries. But when those prescriptions ended, their problems began.
"You turn to the streets," he said of the need to feed the addiction.
Narcan Nasal Spray, the brand name of the drug naloxone, is available as an FDA approved over-the-counter emergency opioid overdose treatment as of Sept. 5. Walgreens is now advertising it has Narcan available over the counter at select stores with availability nationwide by Sept. 7. Other pharmacies like CVS are expected to follow suit this month.
Naloxone, can reverse overdoses of opioids, including street drugs such as heroin and fentanyl and prescription versions, including oxycodone.
"I think it's an excellent idea," Blaine said. "I think it's great that it is readily available."
"I've been in it long enough to be genuinely shocked by some of the things that we see," said Aaron Bitter of the opioid epidemic in the United States.
Bitter, the program director of Symetria Recovery in Lewisville, says Narcan is a vital tool to combat the more than 100,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. each year.
"The mass availability of Narcan, anything designed for opioid overdose reversal, that's fantastic, fantastic news," he said.
First responders and health departments already have Narcan available. Now the average citizen, who perhaps knows someone with a drug problem, can have it available too.
Unfortunately for Blaine, his sister was also an addict. And although Narcan was used to revive her once, it was not readily available when she overdosed a second time.
"I know when my sister had her problem that would have been good for my mom to have, you know, at the house with her," he said of the night four years ago his sister died. "Because that could have potentially saved her that night that she OD'd. But they didn't have Narcan at the house. "
As a nation battles a drug epidemic, millions can now have full access to a life-saving treatment that his sister did not.