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Drugs campaigner Peter Krykant has blasted the Scottish and UK governments for standing still on reforms.
Krykant launched his own mobile Drug Consumption Room in Glasgow three years ago – and the Daily Record was on board to record the events. But our Lord Advocate is still working on a legal framework to open Drug Consumption Rooms – more than two years after it was announced that Scotland would go it alone on the measures.
Yesterday Krykant was in Copenhagen, witnessing the massive strides made in Denmark to tackle addiction with its famous H17 harm reduction centre. He is frustrated that the UK government still rigidly sticks to its old rhetoric on drug policy, which means sticking with the antiquated Misuse of Drugs Act.
And he believes that the recommendations of the Home Affairs Committee to bring reforms – including a pilot Drug Consumption Room in Glasgow – are just more babble that will be unlikely to change things any time soon.
Krykant said: “It was three years, virtually to the day, that I drove my van from Falkirk to Glasgow to offer a safe drug consumption area for an area where there was a clear need. The police allowed me to operate and there was no shortage of clients.
“The Scottish Government said it would go it alone two years ago yet the Lord Advocate still hasn’t come up with a framework that will allow safe consumption facilities. This just isn’t good enough. Even worse, we’ve got a UK Tory government that doesn’t give a damn about what the Home Affairs Committee says.
“It has rejected the views of its own advisory body, the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs, for years. And it ignored the Scottish Affairs Committee when it supported the decriminalisation of drug possession.”
Krykant said there may come a point, possibly soon, when civil disobedience will force the issue.
He said: “It’s quite poignant that I’m in Copenhagen visiting facilities that we should have in place in Scotland by now. The reality is that the UK hasn’t moved forward on safe drug consumption facilities, as the Tories have dug themselves into their entrenched position and Keir Starmer’s Labour Party seems to want to follow their lead, as he’s only concerned with winning the next General Election.
“Scottish Labour’s position is incredibly disappointing because they seem to be accepting everything that comes from London.”
Krykant said individuals or an organisation may take the matter into their own hands and open facilities, regardless of what the UK or Scottish government says.
He said: “That’s how it started in Denmark and other countries and facilities like the one I’m in today are very much part of the fabric of Copenhagen’s society. They have drug taking areas, inhalation rooms, areas to relax in and medical staff on hand. There are mobile facilities and there’s a drug safety checking area.
“There is a big kitchen for hot meals served once a day and the meals get done while the place is being cleaned each day.”
He added: “This kind of facility should not be regarded as an unattainable dream. It should be part of any society which has addiction problems. The end result is that far less people die and people in addiction have better lives and better access to treatment. This is the reality of treating addiction as a health issue rather than a criminal justice one.”
The Daily Record told yesterday how the Home Affairs Committee at Westminster produced a report on drugs that supported a joint pilot for DCRs in Glasgow, funded by the UK and Scottish governments. The committee, which includes six Tories, also supported drug testing initiatives and, most significantly, the overhaul of the Misuse of Drugs Act, which is regarded by most commentators as outdated and punitive.
In response to Krykant’s criticism, the Home Office trotted out the same old lines, saying: “There is no safe way to take illegal drugs, which devastate lives, ruin families and damage communities, and we have no plans to consider this.”
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