Campaigner Peter Krykant broke down in tears as he read a tribute to a drug death victim during a highly-charged rally at Holyrood.
Krykant, who has battled addiction and launched the UK’s first unofficial Overdose Prevention Centre, was overcome as he addressed an audience of MSPs and families affected by drugs.
He had been asked to relate the story of 24-year-old Joshi Smith, from Stirling, who died of an overdose while living in America last year, as part of a commemoration for International Overdose Awareness day outside Holyrood.
Her parents, Cath and Mark Smith, have formed a charity, The Joshi Project, to campaign for better mental health services.
Krykant said: “I hadn’t read the tribute to Joshi in advance and I guess I was just overcome when the words hit me.
“It’s a story that have become all too common, a young life that ends for entirely preventable reasons and leaves a family and network of friends in turmoil.
“You never get used to stories like these and you never should. We need to change Scotland so that stories like this are not just a fact of life.”
Krykant was aided by Scottish Greens MSP Gillian Mackay, who completed the poignant reading.
Other speakers at the event included MSPs who have been highly vocal on Scotland’s drugs issues, like Monica Lennon, Paul Sweeney and Alex Cole Hamilton.
Scotland’s drugs policy minister Angela Constance also took time to give condolences for those affected by drug deaths.
Krykant, who drove his yellow OPC ambulance to Holyrood for the day, had invited attendees on board to demonstrate how easy it is to set such facilities up.
He said : “Today was a chance for us top remember those lost to drugs and to stimulate discussion on better drugs policies.
“It was also a chance to get people on board the bus to see that it’s a relatively easy facility to set up. I firmly believe we will soon be seeing facilities like this in Scotland. “
The event also included a wreath laying ceremony to remember those who had died as a result of an overdose.
Joshi’s parents believe her life could have been saved if she had access to the right kind of support.
The Joshi Project seeks a more compassionate and flexible system of mental health care in Scotland, based on the “Trieste model” of mental health care.
This is a system of social psychiatry, based on a hugely successful model that has operated in the Italian city of Trieste for more than 40 years.
