CVS Naloxone

Justin Brown, foreground, and Jack Queener keep the walkways of a CVS Pharmacy clear last month. CVS will begin selling the heroin antidote Naxolone without a prescription in late March at its 319 Ohio locations (Brad Davis/The Register-Herald via AP)

(Brad Davis)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- All CVS Pharmacy locations in Ohio will sell the heroin antidote Naloxone without a prescription, beginning in late March.

Naloxone -- also known as Narcan -- reverses overdoses for opioids such as heroin, and for an even more deadly combination on the rise, heroin mixed with the powerful opiate Fentanyl.

"The overdoses continue to increase, and this coming into the community is really timely,'' said William Denihan, CEO of the Cuyahoga County ADAMHS Board.

"I'm thrilled this will reach a wider market with a greater availability. In the long run, it will save lives.''

CVS has 319 stores in Ohio.

LINK: CVS Ohio store locator

LINK: Ohio Opiate Task Force

Naloxone currently is available for free at three clinic locations on a limited basis in Cuyahoga County (see below), as well as other locations throughout the area that typically are open one day a week. CVS will charge a fee for the drug.

Denihan said CVS is the first area pharmacy to offer Naloxone.

CVS Health unveiled the plan this week. It previously made Naloxone available at stores in Arkansas, California, Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.

"Naloxone is a safe and effective antidote to opioid overdoses, and by expanding access to this medication in our Ohio pharmacies by the use of a physician's standing order for patients without a prescription, we can help save lives," Tom Davis, vice president of pharmacy professional practices at CVS Pharmacy, said in a statement.

Naloxone is a nasal spray that blocks the effects of opioids on the brain and restores breathing within minutes, after which victims still need to seek emergency medical attention.

"It's one piece of a broader effort to combat this problem,'' said Jerry Craig, CEO of the Summit County ADM Board. "It gives a person another opportunity to seek treatment.''

Ohio has long been considered a hot spot in the national heroin epidemic. It experienced one of the nation's most dramatic increases in overdose deaths between 2013 and 2014 -- 18.3 percent.

Overdoses also are on the rise in Cuyahoga and Summit counties, officials said.

Fatal overdoses increased in Cuyahoga last year, largely because of the increased use of Fentanyl with heroin. In 2014, five such deaths were reported, and there were 90 in 2015.

There were 379 heroin overdoses in Cuyahoga County in 2015, officials said.

Naloxone was credited with saving 110 lives in Cuyahoga County in the first nine months of 2015 -- the most recent data available.

In Akron, emergency personnel encountered 556 opiate overdoses last year, and 453 were reversed with Naloxone, according to the Summit County ADM Board.

"Many of our first responders carry Naloxone, but having it available on a wider basis could get help to someone who is overdosing even more quickly,'' Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said in a statement.

Free Naloxone dose locations, times in Cuyahoga County: Free doses of Naloxone are available in Cuyahoga County at the Board of Health, 5550 Venture Drive, Parma, Fridays, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.; Free Medical Clinic, 12201 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Tuesdays 12-4 p.m. and Fridays 1-5 p.m.; and Thomas F. McCafferty Health Center, 4242 Lorain Ave., Cleveland, Thursdays 4-8 p.m.