[ad_1]
The activist behind the safest mobile drug use facilities in Glasgow has been charged under the Drug Abuse Act of 1971.
Peter Krykant, who lost his job as a social worker for establishing services in the alleyways where people with drug addictions inject themselves, was warned and charged Friday. The police then left the scene and will present a report of the charge to the prosecutor.
Krykant plans to continue providing the weekly service on Parnie Street, while trying to reduce drug-related deaths and transmission of HIV and hepatitis after drug-related deaths in Scotland reached the highest rates in Europe.
Scotland’s largest city is at the center of the country’s deepening drug crisis and Britain’s worst HIV epidemic in more than 30 years, as a result of needle sharing.
Krykant has said that only a change in the law to allow the legal use of drugs such as heroin and cocaine would allow authorities to address the problem.
Glasgow Central MP Alison Thewliss tweeted: “The work Peter Krykant is doing reduces damage and helps save lives. It must be allowed to continue to do so. The Drug Abuse Law is outdated and puts lives at risk ”.
Inverclyde MP Ronnie Cowan tweeted: “Charging Peter Krykant is contrary to the Scottish Police website which says ‘Semper Watch, keeping people safe’. Peter was keeping people safe. Now he can’t. “
Police tolerated Krykant’s work for nearly two months, during which time his volunteers were credited with saving a man’s life after being told he had overdosed nearby. They administered naloxone, which reverses opioid overdoses, and the man regained consciousness before being taken to hospital.
Former Labor MP Paul Sweeney has also been helping Krykant facilitate safer drug use. This is “destructive and counterproductive and is driving vulnerable people back into dirty alleys,” he told the Daily Record.
“Sending police officers to monitor this van is a waste of resources, particularly when you consider that other forces in England are bringing forward progressive initiatives to help drug users.”
There are around 100 officially licensed drug consumption rooms around the world, and none have recorded an overdose death thanks to thousands of life-saving interventions.
A Scottish police spokesman said: “A 43 year old man has been charged in connection with a crime under the Drug Abuse Act 1971 on Parnie Street in Glasgow on the morning of Friday 23 October 2020 A report will be sent to the tax attorney in due time. “
The UK government, which sets drug policy, has previously rejected requests to legalize such facilities, saying running one would be a crime.
