ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — The FDA has approved selling Narcan without a prescription.

It is now on course to become the first opioid treatment drug to be sold over the counter by summer.

Other brands of naloxone and injectable forms will not yet be available over the counter, but they could be soon.

It’s a move some advocates have been calling for as a way to improve access to the drug as families and others who are impacted struggle with getting help for their loved ones.

“It’s hard enough to have to fight this epidemic, to have to also fight this misinformation and this stigma that’s around it you know is really unfair to the families who have to struggle with this day in and day out,” Monroe County Commissioner of Public Health Dr. Michael Mendoza told News 8.

Dr. Mendoza also says this approval from the FDA could help stop the stigma surrounding drug overdose.

“Now that we have Narcan over the counter I think that will greatly expand the access of Narcan across the community. I think it will take away some of the stigma that’s out there about having Narcan in your home,” Dr. Mendoza said. “For people to know it’s available alongside Tylenol and cough drops. I think it will go a long way toward changing some of those misbeliefs.”

Locally, Dr. Mendoza says 75% of overdoses in Monroe County happen at home.

It’s estimated that more than 100,000 people die of drug overdoses every year — a majority of those are tied to opioids.