We are the MySafe Society, an innovative non-profit safer supply initiative. We help create opportunity for consistent monitoring, education and assistance to manage drug use, and reduce drug overdoses.
More than 15,000 Canadians have died of an opioid-related overdose since January 2016. In recent years, calls for access to a safer drug supply have mounted from people who use drugs, health officials, doctors, government leaders and community groups.
MySafe, the world's first biometric opioid vending machine, was launched in December 2019 in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside as part of an innovative harm reduction pilot project.
Purpose
To provide a low-barrier means of accessing a safer pharmaceutical-grade opioid supply on a pre-determined schedule through a machine. Access is granted to the medications upon identity verification using biometric palm-scanning technology.
Participants are given autonomy and flexibility regarding when to access their medications and where to use them. This low-barrier way of accessing a safer opioid supply is secure, scalable and cost-effective.
The MySafe Project greatly reduces the chance of drug overdose by providing a pharmaceutical grade opioid of known potency and purity.
A safer supply also allows drug users to break the cycle and hustle they go through to get drugs, allowing them to focus on stabilizing their lives.
How it Works
Assessment and Prescription
Assessment and Prescription
Programming and Supply
Dispension and Safe Supply Administration
Led by a team with decades of success in harm reduction, public health, and clinical trials.
The MySafe Board of Directors is comprised of medical experts who are leaders in harm reduction, safe supply and clinical trials. These experts have joined forces to form the MySafe Society to provide safer supply initiatives on a national scale. Bios for the MySafe Society Board of Directors are detailed below.
Board of Directors
Dr. Mark Tyndall is among Canada’s leading experts on harm reduction, public health, and the transmission of infectious diseases. A Harvard trained epidemiologist and infectious diseases specialist with a clinical focus on HIV, Hepatitis C and infections related to injection drug use. He has numerous career awards and has authored over 250 peer-reviewed academic papers. Dr. Tyndall is a professor at the School of Population and Health at UBC, and formerly the Director of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) and the Deputy Provincial Health Officer for British Columbia. Dr. Tyndall is the Founder of the MySafe Society.
Board of Directors
Dr. Andrea Sereda is a Schulich School of Medicine Graduate, focused on street-level, at risk programs. Dr. Sereda works at the London InterCommunity Health Centre (LIHC), where she is the lead physician for Street Level Women at Risk (SLWAR). Dr Sereda helps women stay safer in their substance use, and works on larger health goals like treatment of HIV, hepatitis C, and other mental health disorders. Dr. Sereda has been operating a take home safe supply program for 4 years and cares for 120 safe supply patients. In 2018, Dr. Sereda was recognized as one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40.
Board of Directors
Dr. Ed Mills is a Professor at McMaster University Department of Health Research Methods, Impact, and Evaluation, and the University of Rwanda, School of Public Health. He is an Oxford educated Clinical Epidemiologist and Statistician and has spent the past twenty years leading large clinical trials and mega-cohort evaluations. Edward has worked extensively with the ministries of health setting new guideline processes and has published more than 400 peer-reviewed scientific articles and several books. In addition, he has developed software for Bayesian analysis of clinical trials and prospective adaptive trials.
MySafe Society Partners
Community Supporters
In late-2020, five MySafe machines were delivered to established community partners in Vancouver, Victoria, London, and Dartmouth.
Dartmouth, NS
London, ON
Vancouver BC
Victoria, BC
Vancouver, BC
Vancouver, BC
Vancouver BC
Victoria, BC
1176 Granville Street,
Vancouver, BC
Vancouver, BC
London, ON
Dartmouth, NS
It's time to change the landscape of safer supply.
Get in Touch
Jan 2016 - Sep 2019
Jan 2016 - Sep 2019
Jan 2019 - Sep 2019
Help MySafe, a scalable overdose crisis response.
MySafe wouldn't be possible without the support of our community, who are trying against all odds to save people from a poisoned drug supply.
Funding has allowed the MySafe program to expand and provide access to safe prescribed medication and reduce deaths caused by toxic street drugs. Donations to the project are open, and will go towards supporting production operations and expanding the network of MySafe kiosks to fight the overdose crisis.
