Vending

Prescription opioid machines enabling unauthorized access, critics claim

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January 25, 2023

Vending machines installed in Vancouver to supply prescription opioid to opioid addicts are enabling unauthorized access to the drug, according to some health care observers.

The MySafe machines deployed in 2019 for registered opioid addicts provide hydromorphone, an alternative to more dangerous drugs, according to a globalnews.ca report.

Persons working in the recovery sector said individuals with prescriptions for the drugs sell them for cash, enabling 16- and 17-year-olds to get the drug.

Elenore Sturko, a British Columbia addictions observer, said the system needs better management.