From the New York Times, I'm Sabrina Tavredy-C and this is The Daily.

In the face of an escalating opioid epidemic, federal authorities recently took a bold step.

They approved a life-saving medicine to be on drugstore shelves all over the country,

starting this summer.

Today, my colleague Jen Hoffman on the new availability of NARCIA and how it could change the

trajectory of the epidemic.

It's Thursday, May 4.

So first question, what is NARCIA for those who don't know?

NARCIA is a nasal spray that can reverse an opioid overdose.

You basically put the nostril up the nostril of someone who appears to be overdosing and

you push the plunger once and within a few minutes of injecting the nasal spray, someone

can actually wake up from an overdose and their life can be safe.

It is something of a miracle drug.

Okay, so this miracle drug is now going to be available over the counter without a prescription,

which is a big deal because opioids are taking something like 80,000 lives a year.

That's exactly right.

And what's remarkable about it is that we've come so far in our view of a drug that can

reverse an opioid overdose and that's really more about how we view opioids and how we view

people who use opioids.

That's what's really astonishing about the history of NARCIA.

Okay, so tell me more about that, Jan.

What is NARCIA in its adoption?

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