Narcan

For four organizations in Boston, new vending machines won’t mean a snack to crunch on but rather access to opioid overdose-reversing medications and other harm reduction supplies.

The city, state and country have announced decreases in opioid overdose deaths in recent months. One element that might be contributing to that decline: getting more medications that reverse overdoses into the hands of everyday people.

Local community health centers are celebrating the federal government making Narcan, a nasal spray medication used to treat opioid overdoses, available over-the-counter nationwide for the first time last week, after approval earlier this year by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.