Mum of drug death victim buys 28 valium on busy Glasgow street to prove how easy it is

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The mother of a young Scots overdose victim made a drug deal on one of Scotland’s busiest shopping streets.Linda McVean was given 28 street Valium pills on Argyle Street, Glasgow, for £10 - before shaming the dealer by telling him “these are the same pills that killed my son.”Linda, 54, then made a report to Police Scotland, telling detectives that she was disgusted that the trade in drugs is allowed to go on in full view of shoppers, with virtually no visible deterrent.The mum was distraught at the loss of Frankie in May, after he dabbled in the blue pills while staying at the controversial Queens Park Hotel, where several people’s lives have been claimed by the same drugs.She has conducted her own crusade to save other lives, which led to a recent meeting with First Minister Humza Yousaf, from which she is awaiting a formal response.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.”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.