Drug Vending Machines

An anonymous reader writes "If you guessed San Bernardino County prisons as the ideal place to put drug vending machines, come claim your prize. From the article, 'Corrections departments are responsible for so many burdensome tasks that many of their everyday functions, like administering prescription drugs to inmates, are afterthoughts for the public. However, dispensing medication was so laborious and wasteful for the San Bernardino County (Calif.) Sheriff-Coroner Department that officials sought a way to streamline the process. The end product was essentially a vending machine that links to correctional facility databases and dispenses prescription medications.'"

I expected...

[zergl]

I expected Heroin/Crack dispensers reading the headline.

Left disappointed.

What could go wrong

[g0es]

It's a clever idea, but what is making sure they take the drugs?

Flushed down the toilet?

[drinkypoo]

Pharmaceutical regulations require that if medication is prepared for a patient and he or she can't be reached, it's deemed undeliverable and must be destroyed. The leftovers are typically flushed down the toilet or incinerated.

It should be illegal to flush medication down the toilet. Sewage often gets dumped unprocessed into waterways (especially when it is raining) and potent prescription medications can have significant effects when let loose in the world. It has gotten to the point where most drinking water in the USA not only has rocket fuel in it even after processing, but also antibiotics. If you don't think that will have serious repercussions, you're not thinking.

Re:What could go wrong

[millwall]

It's a clever idea, but what is making sure they take the drugs?

Who is making sure of that with the current setup?

This is for criminals?

[NickyGotz22]

Why not just label the vending machine "Pinata" and wait for all the outstanding resident of these prisons to spend their mass quantities of free time play whack-a-mole on this baby till it rains pharmaceutical goodness. Brilliant

Re:This is for criminals?

[MickyTheIdiot]

I would guess that these machines are probably NOT located in the game room, exercise room, or other common area where prisoners congregate. Even if secure room by themselves all you need is a normal guard to watch, which I am guessing is a lot cheaper than putting a pharmacist on staff.

Great

[frovingslosh]

What could possibly go wrong?

Re:the title

[badfish99]

Yes, because it's really confusing when we get mixed up between (say) heroin, a wicked and dangerous drug, and diamorphine, a useful medicine. Or between medical marijuana and the addictive stuff. Or between codeine and cough mixture. Or...

Re:This is for criminals?

[SparkleMotion88]

Riiiight... You can achieve security by having a poorly paid guard keep an eye on the valuable prescription drugs in the prison.

Re:already being done in nursing homes

[trybywrench]

The issue is you need someone to do a sanity check and make sure no one mistakenly filled a hopper meant for Children's Tylenol with, say, Oxycontin. In the case of drugs coming to the pharmacy, our pharmacists physically examine each pill before it goes into the vial when they're counting them out. This is the drug wholesaler sanity check.