Mum buys 28 pills on street to prove how easy it is to get drug that killed son
The mother of a drug overdose victim purchased illegal drugs in the middle of a busy shopping street to show how easy it is to get hold of them.
Linda McVean bought 28 street Valium pills for £10 - before shaming the dealer by telling him “these are the same pills that killed my son”. She then reported herself to the police, telling cops she was disgusted the illegal trade was allowed to continue in broad daylight in full view of shoppers.
Linda, 54, made the shocking move after losing her son, Frankie, in May this year. She made the purchase of valium on a busy Glasgow street to prove how easy it is to get the blue pills which took her son’s life while staying at the controversial Queens Park Hotel, where several people’s lives have been claimed by the same drugs.
Linda has embarked on a crusade to save others from the same fate, even going so far as to meet with Scotland ’s First Minister Humza Yousaf to discuss the problem. She says she is awaiting a formal response following their talk, the Daily Record reports. Linda, from Penilee, Glasgow, said: “I just acted impulsively and bought the pills just to prove how easy it is to do so.
“Since I lost Frankie in May I have learned so much about drugs, about how easy it is to buy them, how cheap they are and how little is being done to stop those selling street drugs. I realise that having crackdowns in certain places might just drive dealers elsewhere but I just think that the police should be making things as difficult for them as possible.”
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Linda lost her son after he dabbled in the pills whilst staying at the Queens Park Hotel in Glasgow (Garry F McHarg Daily Record)Linda spoke out after the official drug death statistics for 2022 showed a drop in deaths from 1,330 to 1051 - making it the lowest number for five years and a reduction of 21 per cent. The statistics also showed that deaths involving benzodiazepine overdoses - mainly street Valium - appear to have dropped by a significant amount. Numbers were down 27 per cent to 518 deaths last year.
She said: “It is welcome that the deaths in 2022 dropped and I was surprised to see that street Valium deaths came down because all the evidence I see in front of me is that the streets are still awash with them. Frankie’s death came among a cluster in May and I know that deaths appeared to be rising by the end of the year, so I really don’t think this is a time for celebration.”
When Linda made her drug deal she shamed the dealer by saying: “These are the same pills that killed my son. You should be ashamed of yourself.” She added : “The guy did say he was sorry to hear about my son but it was clear that wasn’t going to stop him selling the drugs.
“He didn’t show much real remorse for anything. On the same street I spoke to another guy who said he could get me anything I wanted. I was wondering to myself about just how little fear they had about getting caught. I’m a woman in her fifties and I don’t exactly look like a drug addict. I am sympathetic to anyone who finds themselves caught up in addiction but the normalising of selling drugs on the street seems wrong and I would like to see some visible efforts to reduce the trade.”
Linda added: “I would also appeal to anyone who suspects that a lock-up of warehouse unit is being used as a drugs factory to phone the police. Those are the places that are at the heart of all the misery.” Linda, whose son Frankie, 30, died at the Queens Park Hotel in Glasgow on May 14, showed the First Minister a photo of her son when they met in July. Frankie who was not a drug addict when he entered the homeless accommodation but dabbled with cheap blue pills, which many residents were taking daily.
Linda's son Frankie was one of a cluster of deaths at the Queens Park and Rennie Mackintosh Station Hotel in Glasgow (Garry F McHarg Daily Record)Frankie was one of a cluster of deaths at the Queens Park and Rennie Mackintosh Station Hotel in the city centre earlier this year. Linda discussed a range of measures that could lower the risk of overdose deaths in homeless hotels in Glasgow - like the provision of 24-hour drug workers and access to better through-care for those receiving drug treatments. The First Minister has promised to give a written response.
After Frankie’s death Linda said she would not rest until more safeguards were brought in for people being housed in hotels like the Queens Park. She started a petition to highlight how people with known drugs issues should not be dumped in hotels known to have experienced regular overdoses and multiple deaths. At Queens Park Hotel, at least 10 people have died there in three years, including three since the start of May.
Frankie’s death was among more than 132 to happen in temporary accommodation in Glasgow in the three years. Assistant Chief Constable Faroque Hussain, of Police Scotland, said: “While any reduction in the number of drug-related deaths has to be welcomed, each and every one is an individual tragedy for the family and loved ones of those involved and our thoughts remain with them. We will continue to work in partnership to prevent and reduce substance harm, as well as exploring solutions to help address the number of drug deaths in Scotland.
“Our use of Naloxone also highlights the important contribution Police Scotland makes to helping to prevent the harm caused by drugs. This life-saving nasal spray has now been administered more than 300 times by officers. Our national roll-out programme is almost complete and will soon see 12,500 officers equipped with this treatment. Drugs, and those involved in supplying them, blight our communities. Police Scotland is committed to disrupting this organised activity right across the country.”
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