The mother of one of Scotland’s most recent drug death victims has demanded that the First Minister takes responsibility for the drugs policy mess that is claiming thousands of lives.
Linda McVean’s son Frankie is believed to have died of an overdose of street Valium - Scotland’s biggest killer drug.
After it emerged that suspected drug deaths have returned to the levels of June 2021, Linda demanded that Humza Yousaf gets his “eye on the ball” after years of tragic failure by the SNP.
Linda, 54, said: “We used to about drugs being a national emergency and a top priority but if that’s the case why are things going backwards.
“Nicola Sturgeon admitted she took her eye off the ball and if Scotland hadn’t been allowed to slip into the mess we have today my Frankie might still be alive.
“I don’t blame any individual for Frankie’s death but I do know that, as a nation, we are keeping the promises made about turning around this overdose epidemic.”
Linda, from Penilee, Glasgow, has spoken of her heartbreak at the death of scaffolder Frankie, 30, who is believed to have taken blue etizolam pills, which are churned out in Scottish drugs factories by the million.
He was staying at the notorious Queens Park Hotel, which is used to house homeless Scots, many of whom have addiction issues.
Frankie was not addicted to drugs and was looking forward to taking up a tenancy at a council home, which was due to happen shortly after his death on May 14.
Linda said: “Frankie found himself in an environment where everyone was taking these blue pills and there was a basic tolerance of it, as though it’s just part of normal life.
“That is something that make me feel angry and upset and I don’t want other families to go through the nightmare that my own has been put through.”
The Record told yesterday how Scotland’s latest estimated quarterly death count of 298 is the highest since June 2021.
Suspected drug deaths in the first three months of the year were five per cent up on the same period last year.
Drawn from Police Scotland management data, the figures follow equally tragic stats for the previous three months, when 295 died.
The deaths have continued despite a national mission on drugs - announced by former first minister Nicola Sturgeon in 2021 and backed by £250 million of funding over five years.
Scottish Labour’s shadow health and drugs spokesperson Jackie Baillie said Humza Yousaf is in danger of taking his eye off the ball on drugs even more than Sturgeon.
Baillie said: “Nicola Sturgeon admitted that she took her eye off the ball on drug deaths – with fatal results.
“But so far, Humza Yousaf has done nothing to tackle the drugs death crisis he has inherited.
“Never mind taking your eye off the ball – Humza Yousaf is still not on the pitch.”
She added: “Drugs deaths in Scotland not only remain a national scandal, but the situation is only deteriorating further. Years of SNP inaction and cuts to rehab beds have put lives in danger.
“Humza Yousaf should learn from Sturgeon’s fatal failure and act.”
Campaigner Annemarie Ward, chief executive of the FAVOR charity, said: “Despite all the promises on better access and more choice of treatment, we still keep resorting to the same failing strategies, looking to the same people to provide the answers.
“The bottom line for me is that we need to provide access to immediate treatment for anyone who wants it.
“They need to be able to choose the kind of treatment that works for them.
“That has to involve a balance, including rehab for those who choose it.
“And for those who may feel they would benefit from methadone or another medical assisted treatment, they need proper access to full wrap-around support.”
She added: “As it stands we have thousands of people whose ‘treatment’ consists of a methadone prescription and that’s it. This is a recipe for disaster, which leads to polydrug overdoses for so many people. Things need to change fast.”
Ward added: “It seems that we have year after year of failure and there never seems to be any accountability, no-one to blame for the disastrous failure to actually implement any of the high-minded strategies that have looked so good on paper.”
The drugs services sector has faced delays in implementing key, rights-based MAT (medication assistant treatment) standards.
The Scottish Government has also failed to make progress on drug consumption rooms, doing little to introduce then in more than four years.
The latest death estimates suggest there have been 13 more suspected deaths this year than there were in the first months of last year.
The Police Scotland data shows the number of women dying of drugs has increased by 14 per cent compared to January-March 2022, rising to 98 suspected deaths.
Deaths of under 25s also increased by seven per cent, rising to 16 - confounding the repeated excuses churned out by government ministers about an “ageing cohort” that was cruelly expected to die off.
Drug and Alcohol Policy Minister Elena Whitham said: “As stated in the report, the number of suspected drug deaths fluctuates from quarter to quarter and care should be taken not to interpret movements between individual calendar quarters as indicative of any long term trend.”
She added: "We are prioritising getting more people into the form of treatment which works best for them. Through our £250 million National Mission on drugs, we have continued to expand residential rehabilitation, supported 300 grass-roots projects, and continued to drive implementation of the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Standards which support the consistent delivery of safe, accessible, high-quality drug treatment across Scotland."
READ NEXT:
