Peter Krykant dies suddenly as tributes paid to pioneering Scots drugs reformer
Krykant, who battled addiction issues, was found dead at home in Falkirk. He inspired many to regard addiction as a health issue and paved the way for state-backed safe drug consumption areas
Tributes have been paid to drugs policy reformer Peter Krykant after his sudden death.
The campaigner, who battled addiction himself, became a public figure after setting up an unofficial drugs consumption room in a converted ambulance.
He famously operated from the van in Glasgow city centre in 2020 and 2021 in a bid to tackle the city's rampant addiction crisis.
Police Scotland have said that no suspicious circumstances surround the death at his home in Larbert, Falkirk, on Monday this week.
Labour MSP Paul Sweeney, who had helped man the mobile service, which was regarded as illegal at the time, said 48-year-old Krykant's efforts had helped make significant changes to Scotland's drugs policy.
Sweeney said: 'I'm shocked and saddened to hear of Peter's death.
'We can't underestimate the contribution he made to the drugs debate in Scotland, which came amid many years of increasing overdose deaths.
'He undoubtedly played a major part in changing policy in a political a system that was very much set in its ways and resistant to the kind of radical change that Peter advocated.
'The overdose prevention facility in Glasgow, which is now operating successfully, came after many minds were turned by Peter's efforts.'
Sweeney said Krykant's efforts to force the opening of legal drug consumption areas in Scotland brought international recognition.
He said: 'I worked alongside Peter on the van, which itself came to be an iconic sign of the changes that were occurring in attitudes in Scotland and the UK as a whole.
'Peter also travelled the world to tell others about his methods to disrupt and bring change.
'He will be very sadly missed.'
Krykant launched his drugs bus after the Daily Record ran a powerful campaign to liberalise drugs laws, which highlighted Scotland's status as the drug deaths capital of Europe.
In 2021 he met then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is to hold talks on the opening of an official Drug Consumption Room site.
After running his van in Glasgow's city centre for several months, Krykant donated the facility to the Transform Drug Policy Foundation and its Anyone's Child campaign, which took it on a UK tour.
He later took on roles with Cranstoun UK, a drug service provider.
It became public knowledge that Krykant suffered from ongoing personal trauma related to drug taking and suffered relapses in recent years.
He had been visiting London in the days before his death but had returned to his flat in Larbert when friends became concerned about his wellbeing.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: 'Around 5.15pm on Monday, 9 June 2025, police attended an address in Graham Avenue, Larbert following a report of a concern for person.
'The body of a 48-year-old man was found within.
'His next of kin has been informed. A post mortem examination will be carried out in due course. The death is being treated as unexplained.'
Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!
Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.
You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team.
All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in!
If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like.
To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Rhyl Journal
15 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
British state ‘overbearing' ministers say as they lay out industrial overhaul
In the Industrial Strategy published on Monday, the Government has backed UK industries it thinks have the potential to grow, with the aim of creating jobs and prosperity across Britain and Northern Ireland. Artificial intelligence (AI), offshore wind power, and electric vehicle batteries are among the sectors which feature. The strategy aims to help realise Labour's mission pledge to create sustained economic growth, which ministers want to see become the highest in the G7. In the strategy's foreword, alongside Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, Sir Keir said that 'when new opportunities present themselves, Britain often finds itself too regulated to take advantage'. The ministers added: 'The result is a state that is both overbearing and feeble, poorly serving an economy that has become too reliant on one place, too exposed to global volatility and too sluggish to take advantage of transitions like the move to homegrown clean energy'. They said that the strategy marks a 'new approach' and accounts for a decade-long plan to make Britain an attractive country to invest in. The industrial strategy focuses on eight areas. As well as the main strategy, on Monday the Government also published five separate 'sector plans', with more details on distinct policy areas: advanced manufacturing, creative industries, clean energy, digital and technology, and professional and business services. Plans for the defence, financial services and life sciences sectors will come later. The ministers said that the eight sectors had been 'identified as those best placed to create the wealth, jobs, and higher wages our country needs in every community'. The five sector plans published on Monday emphasised the opportunities for growth across the regions and nations of the UK. Edinburgh's robotics and agri-tech research hubs, and the space industry of the Oxford to Cambridge corridor featured among advanced manufacturing industries. Onshore and offshore wind in south-west Wales, and heat pump producers in Northern Ireland feature in the clean energy sector plans, while Birmingham and Manchester's AI and cyber industries are highlighted in the plan for digital technology. Several of the sector plans also address the changes which AI could have upon their industries. The creative industries for example, will need to 'embrace new technology', one document says, insisting the Government will maximise the value of AI, while 'protecting and incentivising human creativity'. The strategy includes details on several ways the Government wants to make it easier for firms to do business, such as tackling 'high industrial electricity costs' and reducing 'regulatory burdens'. It also says ministers will 'remove planning barriers' and 'ensure our tax system supports growth'. As part of the plans, energy costs for businesses will be cut by scrapping green levies to help them compete with foreign rivals. From 2027, a new British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will cut costs by up to £40 per megawatt hour for over 7,000 manufacturing firms by exempting them from levies on bills including the renewables obligation, feed-in tariffs and the capacity market. The strategy comes after the latest figures indicated the economy shrank by 0.3% in April, the biggest monthly contraction in gross domestic product for a year-and-a-half, as businesses felt the impact of Donald Trump's tariffs and domestic pressure as a result of hikes to firms' national insurance contributions.
The National
26 minutes ago
- The National
Ex-Unionist party leader backs Scottish independence referendum
The ex-Labour MP, who formerly led the now-defunct Unionist All for Unity party, has said he now supports the "right of Scots to self-determination" having been opposed to it his entire political life. In 2021, he pledged to "tackle the scourge of separatism" when All for Unity launched their Scottish Parliament election manifesto. But in a surprise post on social media on Monday, he appeared to have completely changed his tune, adding that Prime Minister Keir Starmer was "pitiful" and that Britain had become a "cesspit". He posted on Twitter/X: "We support the right of the Scots to self-determination. Eleven years after they last did so, we believe the time for another referendum is close. READ MORE: Yvette Cooper: Palestine Action to be proscribed as terrorist organisation "Given the collapsing authority of the British state the pitiful prime minister Starmer the moral decline of British society the result cannot easily be predicted. Britain has become a cesspit." Following the collapse of All for Unity, Galloway has been leading the Workers Party of Britain since founding it in 2019. Originally from Dundee, he made a surprise return to politics when he won the Rochdale by-election following the death of Labour's Tony Lloyd, but he subsequently lost the seat at the General Election. He had dedicated his win in Rochdale to Palestine. In his victory speech he said: 'Keir Starmer: this is for Gaza." Last year, when he called a press conference to mark his return to Parliament, he said he was not 'going to fight against the SNP in here', saying his involvement in Scottish politics was over. He said while he was 'not a supporter of the SNP' he thought the party had been 'outstanding on the Gaza question, at least by comparison with the two big parties of the state'.
North Wales Chronicle
30 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
British state ‘overbearing' ministers say as they lay out industrial overhaul
In the Industrial Strategy published on Monday, the Government has backed UK industries it thinks have the potential to grow, with the aim of creating jobs and prosperity across Britain and Northern Ireland. Artificial intelligence (AI), offshore wind power, and electric vehicle batteries are among the sectors which feature. The strategy aims to help realise Labour's mission pledge to create sustained economic growth, which ministers want to see become the highest in the G7. In the strategy's foreword, alongside Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, Sir Keir said that 'when new opportunities present themselves, Britain often finds itself too regulated to take advantage'. The ministers added: 'The result is a state that is both overbearing and feeble, poorly serving an economy that has become too reliant on one place, too exposed to global volatility and too sluggish to take advantage of transitions like the move to homegrown clean energy'. They said that the strategy marks a 'new approach' and accounts for a decade-long plan to make Britain an attractive country to invest in. The industrial strategy focuses on eight areas. As well as the main strategy, on Monday the Government also published five separate 'sector plans', with more details on distinct policy areas: advanced manufacturing, creative industries, clean energy, digital and technology, and professional and business services. Plans for the defence, financial services and life sciences sectors will come later. The ministers said that the eight sectors had been 'identified as those best placed to create the wealth, jobs, and higher wages our country needs in every community'. The five sector plans published on Monday emphasised the opportunities for growth across the regions and nations of the UK. Edinburgh's robotics and agri-tech research hubs, and the space industry of the Oxford to Cambridge corridor featured among advanced manufacturing industries. Onshore and offshore wind in south-west Wales, and heat pump producers in Northern Ireland feature in the clean energy sector plans, while Birmingham and Manchester's AI and cyber industries are highlighted in the plan for digital technology. Several of the sector plans also address the changes which AI could have upon their industries. The creative industries for example, will need to 'embrace new technology', one document says, insisting the Government will maximise the value of AI, while 'protecting and incentivising human creativity'. The strategy includes details on several ways the Government wants to make it easier for firms to do business, such as tackling 'high industrial electricity costs' and reducing 'regulatory burdens'. It also says ministers will 'remove planning barriers' and 'ensure our tax system supports growth'. As part of the plans, energy costs for businesses will be cut by scrapping green levies to help them compete with foreign rivals. From 2027, a new British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will cut costs by up to £40 per megawatt hour for over 7,000 manufacturing firms by exempting them from levies on bills including the renewables obligation, feed-in tariffs and the capacity market. The strategy comes after the latest figures indicated the economy shrank by 0.3% in April, the biggest monthly contraction in gross domestic product for a year-and-a-half, as businesses felt the impact of Donald Trump's tariffs and domestic pressure as a result of hikes to firms' national insurance contributions.
