An antidote for a heroin overdose is as easy to buy in New York City pharmacies as a bottle of aspirin.

New York State laws have made the antidote, naloxone, available over the counter, and it is sold at nearly 700 pharmacies across the city, where two doses cost around $50.

The laws also protect those who administer the antidote from liability, and the State Health Department provides funding for training and distribution of naloxone kits, which are also used to reverse prescription opioid overdoses. Police officers began carrying the medication in 2012.

But in one environment plagued by overdoses, the city is struggling to ensure enough employees are trained to administer naloxone.