A Vancouver doctor has said he will begin dispensing opioids through a vending machine in Downtown Eastside.
Dr Mark Tyndall said it would help prevent overdoses from fentanyl-laced street drugs.
The machine, which has been built in Toronto, scans a patient’s hand to identify them before dispensing a set number of hydromorphone pills (a heroin substitute).
Dr Tyndall thinks most people would need between 10 and 16 pills a day.
They cost about 35 cents each.
He added that the pain medication sold under the brand name Dilaudid is typically crushed and injected by people who may have previously used OxyContin, before that drug was made more difficult to tamper with following multiple fatal overdoses.
Hydromorphone is currently provided through a limited number of Vancouver clinics offering supervised injection to those experiencing severe substance use disorder.
However, Tyndall said rigid requirements that have people returning multiple times a day are impractical and expensive compared with his plan, which could be in the works within a few weeks as a way to curb overdose deaths.
