In case you’re overdosing

It’s now legal for pharmacists in California to hand over an antidote for opioid overdose without a prescription.

Following last year’s passage of AB 1535 by Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), in April the state Board of Pharmacy approved making naloxone hydrochloride available by request or at the suggestion of a pharmacist, according to a board press release. The drug works by blocking receptors in the brain from the effects of opioids and can restore breathing. It’s delivered by intramuscular injection or nasal spray.

In California, deaths by overdosing on prescription pain medication have increased more than 16 percent over the last decade. In 2012 alone, more than 1,800 people in the state died from opioid overdose; of those deaths, 72 percent involved prescription medication.