About NarcoGuard
NarcoGuard is a public app and wearable research concept for overdose prevention and person-led recovery support. It starts with what a person needs today, and then helps with what they want for tomorrow.
Where NarcoGuard came from
NarcoGuard began with one idea from Shannon Pillion Robinson, NarcoGuard's CFO: a wearable that could one day give naloxone automatically when someone overdoses with no one there to help. She shared the auto-injection idea with founder Stephen Blanford, and the whole project grew from it. The idea is still a research goal; no device delivers naloxone yet.
Built around Maslow's hierarchy of needs
Psychologist Abraham Maslow described human needs as layers: the body's needs first, then safety, then connection, then self-respect and independence, and then growth toward the goals that matter to you. It is hard to plan a job interview while hungry or without a safe place to sleep. So NarcoGuard lists basic needs first and builds up from there.
The order is a planning aid, not a ranking of people or a test. Every kind of help stays visible at every level. You can start anywhere, skip any step, or work on several at once.
How addiction can hijack the hierarchy
Addiction is a treatable medical condition, not a character flaw. The National Institute on Drug Abuse explains that drugs over-activate the brain's reward circuit, and that with repeated use the circuit adapts, making it hard to feel pleasure from anything besides the drug. Over time, seeking the drug can feel as urgent as food, sleep or safety.
That is how the ladder gets turned upside down. Money for meals goes to using, sleep and hygiene slip, housing and safety are put at risk, relationships and work fall away, and goals stop feeling possible. Each lost step makes the others harder, and losing the basics makes it harder to start and stay in recovery.
NarcoGuard is built to help rebuild the ladder from the bottom, alongside treatment and recovery support rather than instead of them: finding food, a safe place to sleep, a shower and health care today; overdose response and naloxone when risk is highest; treatment, peer support and people you trust; then work, skills and the goals you choose. Meeting basic needs does not cure addiction, and no app can promise recovery, but it can remove some of the obstacles that stand in the way.
Ready to talk to someone about treatment? SAMHSA's National Helpline is free, confidential and open 24/7: 1-800-662-4357. Source: NIDA, Drugs and the Brain.
Where each level lives in the app
1. Body and basic needs
Food, water, a place to sleep, toilets, showers and laundry.
2. Safety and health
Overdose response, naloxone, clinics, pharmacies and emergency rooms.
3. Recovery and connection
Treatment, someone to talk to, peer support, community spaces and people you trust.
4. Stability and independence
Work, income, internet and phone charging, and skills you can be proud of.
5. Growth and your own goals
The goals you choose, broken into small steps you can take tomorrow.
How it works for you
- Say what you need in your own words. Type something like "I'm hungry and need somewhere to sleep" on Find Help. Find Help matches your words on your device; they go to the AI only if you tap "Let AI read my words". Angel is different: once you agree to start a chat, each message you send goes to the AI provider so it can answer. Conversations are not stored.
- See your needs first. The needs you name are shown first, with basic needs leading when you name several. Every other kind of help follows in the same order: basic needs, health and safety, recovery and connection, then growth. If no food, shelter or showers are close, those three are searched farther out and labelled with the distance.
- Choose a goal. Angel listens to what you want and helps break it into small, concrete next steps. The Guardian planner can hold tomorrow's task.
- Move up at your own pace. As today's needs are handled, the same tools help with work, learning, connection and the goals you set.
You lead; the AI listens
Angel AI is there to listen and suggest, never to decide for you. You set the goals and choose every action. Suggestions come with reasons, and you can ignore any of them. Help never depends on tracking, an account or answering check-ins, and you can pause or erase your planner at any time.
What NarcoGuard cannot promise
NarcoGuard cannot guarantee that a need will be met. Listings come from public directories and may be out of date, so call first. NarcoGuard cannot promise a bed, a meal, an appointment or a benefit. If nothing fits, dial 211 for local help. The app is not a medical device or emergency service and does not predict relapse.
If someone may be overdosing, call 911 now and give naloxone if you have it. For a crisis, call or text 988.