STURGEON I’LL HELP END BLUE PLAGUE
NICOLA Sturgeon has promised a crackdown on the fake Valium ripping her community apart in an emotional meeting with a grieving family.
The First Minister spoke after meeting constituent Josie Craig, whose sister Christina was one of six pals in a small area of Glasgow to die from the blue pills between April 2016 and January this year.
Those who died lived in Toryglen, in the heart of Sturgeon’s Glasgow Southside constituency.
Despite families pleading for action on dealers – whose names were repeatedly given to police – no raids took place until Sturgeon demanded a response to revelations in the Daily Record in January about the spate of deaths.
Further raids took place just days later in Possilpark and Maryhill – hotspots revealed in our investigations – where 500,000 pills were seized and two alleged dealers were charged.
A further bust earlier this month saw two million pills seized in Paisley – another hotspot – and three suspects charged.
Josie, 41, is desperate for the scourge of the “blue plague” to be given higher priority.
We have warned repeatedly how Scottish gangsters are selling fake Valium pills, many of which contain new psychoactive substances like etizolam instead of diazepam.
Addicts who mix different kinds of pills with drink, prescription drugs, methadone and heroin are being wiped out, with barely a murmur from the authorities.
After meeting Josie, Sturgeon said: “I met Josie as her MSP and will offer her every assistance I can with what is an extremely serious issue affecting my constituency and much farther afield.
“I will continue to liaise with police regarding this matter to ensure it is treated with the seriousness it deserves.”
Josie revealed that Sturgeon plans to call a summit bringing together grieving families and senior police officers to discuss the spate of deaths linked to fake Valium.
Josie said: “Nicola said she would get a meeting together with me and her and a senior police officer. She agreed that the way deaths of Christina and the others was investigated was inadequate. She seemed genuinely concerned and asked if I was aware of any other deaths from fake Valium.”
Josie took copies of Daily Record articles on the blue plague epidemic and photos of her tragic sister to the private meeting, which took place after the First Minister’s regular constituency surgery on Friday.
She said: “Nicola said she recognised Christina from when she was out campaigning in Toryglen and I don’t doubt it’s true because Christina would talk to everyone.
“I showed her the Daily Record articles and she said she had read them. She agreed that the situation is getting out of hand. I got the impression that this is an issue she would like to help with.
“The very fact she is talking to me about it is a big step forward. After Christina’s death we waited eight weeks for the police to react and they did nothing.
“By the time the Record wrote the story they had been given the names of dealers by umpteen people but nothing happened.
“A few days after the Record story, Nicola said she wanted a strong police response and the officers were soon all over Toryglen. She has the power to make things happen.”
Mum-of-four Josie, 41, was invited to a personal meeting with Sturgeon after the Record revealed her sister Christina, 43, was among six friends to die in the First Minister’s constituency within a few months.
Margo Welsh, 41, Arlene Chapman, 33, Graham Murphy, 43, Lizzie Malone, 44, Stephen Prete, 45, and Christina, 43, lived within a mile of each other in Toryglen. They died between April 2016 and January 2017.
Josie said she was frustrated at the low profile given to the scores of deaths caused by street Valium pills, which often make the users’ mouths turn blue. She said: “The
Record has been saying for months that it’s a hidden problem but I don’t know why a national epidemic should be such a secret. That’s a disgrace in my opinion.
“I think this street Valium menace is being given low priority because there is a perception that it only affects junkies.
“If that’s the case, it’s a disgrace. It’s these pills that make people junkies and the people selling them are hell-bent on keeping people addicted.
“Christina wasn’t a junkie, she was a much-loved mother and sister and daughter from a close and concerned family. She was warm-hearted and generous.
“We all loved her and we suffered with her when she was battling her drug problems. Her friends all leave behind decent people too. People in Toryglen are really angry at what’s going on.”
She added: “The only way to cut off the supply is by regular police busts on dealers to make them feel that they will be going to jail if they keep dealing.”
Josie said she was disappointed that she has barely heard a word in other media about Valium or fake Valium on the streets.
She said: “If a teenager dies from taking an ecstasy pill there is a national outcry and if there are a few deaths they shut down the nightclub and every politician wants to jump on the bandwagon about the evil of drugs.
“What is different about Valium or heroin or methadone?
“There is a league table of priority on drugs and Christina was right at the bottom and that’s part of the reason for her being so defenceless against the people selling her drugs.”