A mother who lost her son to heroin 18 years ago has backed The for drug possession to be decriminalised.
Retired nurse-turned-campaigner Caroline Butler, from Aberdeen, said: “It’s a bold move but it’s about time we looked at it differently rather than in the punitive way we’ve done for years.
“We need to look at people in a more compassionate and understanding way.
“There’s a story behind every person who is involved with drugs. I know that for a fact.”
Kevin eventually died from a heroin overdose. He would’ve been 48 this year.
His problems had started when he was referred to the children’s panel due to behavioural issues that got him into trouble.
She said: “I don’t know why we treat people who are addicted to drugs as criminals.
“Because of my son’s habit, he ended up stealing and was then in prison. Once in the prison system, he found himself deeper into criminal life.”
Butler, who now runs the Substance Bereavement Support Aberdeen group, is glad the debate has been taken to a
She said: “I have advocated for this and I’m delighted it is now being talked about at this level. It has always needed a human and compassionate response.
“A lot of the time, my son and his friends, who were also caught up in this, would be treated appallingly by services and officials. Even when they died, it was not treated like a death normally would be.
“Several people said to me after my son died, ‘It must be a relief’. I was horrified. It wasn’t the same as it would’ve been to them if he’d died in an accident or of an illness. The sense was that his death was inevitable.
“We need to understand that childhood and adult trauma in a lot of these deaths are connected.”
