Drugstore (Cowboy) Vending Machine –
February 10, 2020 – The idea of providing potentially deadly opioids to addicted people via a vending machine might sound actively counterproductive on its face. But with a heroin supply full of fentanyl, Tyndall argues, providing a safer supply to people who can’t or won’t quit just makes sense.
He notes that the province of British Columbia, where Vancouver is located, already has 30 overdose prevention sites, where people can inject drugs under medical supervision and be revived if they overdose. These sites significantly reduce the risk of death where they are located and help get people into treatment—and no one has ever died at one, anywhere.
But, Tyndall asks, why wait to reverse overdoses of poisoned street drugs? Why not just provide a safer supply of drugs of a known dose and purity and prevent them entirely? And how many barriers put up by the medical establishment to protect people are really harming them by driving them away from care?
