GET A GRIP HUMZA

Mum begs FM to 'get eye on the ball' & make drug death crisis a priority so other families don't lose their sons..

- MARK MCGIVERN

THE MUM of a drug death victim has demanded that Humza Yousaf get a grip of Scotland's drug crisis after a rise in deaths.

Linda McVean's son, Frankie, is believed to have died of an overdose of street valium - Scotland's biggest killer drug.

After it emerged that suspected drug deaths have soared in the past three months, Linda demanded the First Minister gets his "eye on the ball" after years of failure by the SNP government.

Linda, 54, said: "Humza Yousaf needs to properly get his eye on the ball or he will be allowing so many more people to die.

"I feel heartbroken to think that so many families are going through what we are and all we get are the same words again and again and no real action.

Speaking about former first minister Nicola Sturgeon's vow to treat drug deaths as a national emergency, Linda added: "We used to hear about drugs being a national emergency and a top priority but if that's the case why are things going backwards?

"Nicola Sturgeon admitted she took her eye off the ball and if Scotland hadn't been allowed to slip into the mess we have today, my Frankie might still be alive.

"As a nation, we are not keeping the promises made about turning around this overdose epidemic."

Linda, from Penilee, Glasgow, previously told the Record of her heartbreak at the death of scaffolder Frankie, 30, who is believed to have taken blue etizolam pills, which are churned out in Scottish drugs factories by the million.