Waiting for the Van
Seriously...23 Heinä 2021

Waiting for the Van

"I couldn't stand back anymore and just watch people die."

In September 2020, drug policy activist Peter Krykant decided he'd had enough. The former heroin addict, turned frontline campaigner, bought a minivan and kitted it out with sanitisers and needles, a supply of naloxone- the medication used to reverse an opioid overdose- and a defibrillator.

He parked it in Glasgow's city centre and opened its doors to homeless drug users who are most at risk of overdose.

The van is operating as a drug consumption room (DCR), which are widely used in Europe and North America. But in Britain they're considered illegal under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act, though legal experts dispute that.

Scotland now holds a per capita death rate three times higher than anywhere else in Europe, tallying six straight years of record-setting, drug-related deaths. The SNP government has expressed support for bold initiatives, like DCRs, but claims its hands are tied by Westminster.

A few years ago the Home Office had stepped in to halt plans for permament site in Glasgow. Since then DCRs have been at the centre of fierce debate.

For Peter Krykant, setting up the van is not just about saving lives, but challenging drug policy.

Presenter Dani Garavelli recorded with Peter at the van over eight months, getting to know him, his family and the users who rely on the service.

Producer: Caitlin Smith

Jaksot(484)

Stealing Power

Stealing Power

Meter tampering means altering a meter to prevent it from fully recording how much electricity or gas is being used, or bypassing the meter completely to energy usage being recorded at all. It may see...

30 Heinä 202428min

The Club Nobody Wants to Join

The Club Nobody Wants to Join

There Is a club that no high school principal in the USA wants to join, but they are all incredibly grateful that its there. Because in the event of the worst possible scenario happening, they will ne...

23 Heinä 202428min

Searching for Butterflies

Searching for Butterflies

In the mountains of Latakia, Syria, Mudar Salimeh devotes much of his time to searching for butterflies. A geologist, artist, and nature lover, Mudar's fascination with butterflies began in the spring...

19 Heinä 202428min

Brood X

Brood X

Every 17 years in the eastern United States, a roaring mass of millions of black-bodied, red-eyed, thumb-length insects erupt from the ground. For a few glorious weeks the periodical cicadas cover the...

9 Heinä 202428min

Stoppage Time for Scunthorpe

Stoppage Time for Scunthorpe

When Bury FC was expelled from the Football League after 125 years, the government commissioned a fan-led review of football's financial stability. Centring the importance of football clubs to hundred...

5 Heinä 202428min

The City That Stayed at Home

The City That Stayed at Home

At the last general election, three of the four seats with the lowest turnout, where the lowest number of eligible people came out to vote, were in Hull. Alex Forsyth sits down with people who stay at...

28 Kesä 202428min

Living Without My Smartphone

Living Without My Smartphone

A group of teenagers agree to give up their smartphones for 5 school days. The phones are locked in a box, and our subjects pick up their old style “brick” phone instead. What’s the best and worst o...

25 Kesä 202428min

The Beauty of Everyday Things

The Beauty of Everyday Things

Poet Ian McMillan has a gift for the art of small pleasures; the joy of close observation; revelling in everyday things, places and encounters; describing and re-describing them endlessly. In the comp...

21 Kesä 202428min

Suosittua kategoriassa Yhteiskunta

olipa-kerran-otsikko
sita
i-dont-like-mondays
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
kaksi-aitia
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
uutiscast
poks
antin-palautepalvelu
kolme-kaannekohtaa
aikalisa
yopuolen-tarinoita-2
mamma-mia
rss-murhan-anatomia
rss-nikotellen
rss-haudattu
meidan-pitais-puhua
rss-palmujen-varjoissa
loukussa
taskula-trishin