LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — In Michigan, emergency treatment for opioid overdoses is no longer limited to the pharmacy counter, now appearing in the same place as snacks or soda: a vending machine.

Narcan vending machines currently operate at University of Michigan Health–Sparrow’s Carson and Clinton community hospitals, stocked by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and dispensing naloxone for free.​​

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Hospital officials say the machines are meant to remove common barriers like cost and prescriptions, buying time until emergency responders arrive.

UM Health–Sparrow leaders noted the machines are especially intended for homes where opioids or other sedating medications are present, even when those drugs are prescribed and used legally.