Canada’s Safe-Supply vending machines project is even more important now

Most doctors still lack the will and courage to prescribe safe supply
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Tuesday, May 5, 2020

mysafeDue to the increase in opioid overdoses, British Columbia declared a public health emergency in 2016. Fentanyl was in town, contributing to thousands of deaths. The nationwide overdose crisis killed about 11 Canadians a day between January 2016 and September 2019. An innovation pioneered by Dr. Mark Tyndall – helpful for any community impacted by drug-related problems, but more relevant amid COVID-19 social distancing – represents an step forward. Tyndall saw the need to provide a safe supply of drugs to people, removing the possibility of adulteration, in a way that supported drug-user autonomy. His idea was to make the opioid hydromorphone (Dilaudid) available through “vending machines” in a project called MySafe. (See also: MySafe: When technology and drug policy meet)