Corey Warren works with recovering addicts, he was one himself. He knows how important access to Narcan is.
"Friends of mine who are not here anymore because of an overdose and maybe somebody didn't get to them quick enough,” Warren said. And I've seen friends of mine who are here today by the grace of god because of Narcan."
Governor Snyder signed a bill allowing pharmacies to carry Narcan. It'll be available at pharmacies that register through the state.
You won't need a prescription in order to get your hands on the drug anymore and having it available at local pharmacies is what experts say is a huge step in the right direction.
"We've got a lot of patients who are prescribed opioids and they may inadvertently or accidentally overdose so it's very valuable for those patients to have it on hand," Kristina Bird with the Michigan Pharmacist Association said.
It's accessible now, but pharmacists say it won't come cheap.
"Anywhere from a couple hundred dollars for a rescue dose to upwards of several thousand dollars," Pharmacist Paul Hammerly said.
He says that's without insurance... And that the next step in fighting the epidemic is to get Medicaid to cover the cost.
"Our most vulnerable population who typically have opioid addiction problems, a lot of them have Medicaid insurance and at this time that medication is not covered by Medicaid,” Hammerly said. “And they typically lack the out of pocket ability to pay for that medication."
Warren agrees that it needs to be covered, but he knows this access is going to help stop the epidemic, help addicts... And…
"Save their life," Warren said.
