HORROR AS DEADLY DRUGS FOUND IN STREET

May 30 2007 Paisley Daily Express

Children could have swallowed heroin substitute, claims mum

HORRIFIED parents hit out yesterday after a bottle of methadone was discovered lying in a busy street where their kids play.

Mum-of-two Roslyn Scarff found the heroin substitute beside bushes in a street in Foxbar, Paisley, after it had been dumped there by a junkie.

And she said there could have been a tragedy if a child had swallowed the liquid drug.

Roslyn – who completed a drugs awareness course as part of her previous job as a barmaid – added: “I dread to think what could have happened if this bottle had ended up in the hands of a youngster.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the methadone lying there. It’s shocking that someone left a potentially deadly drug in a street where children play every day.”

And concerned local councillor Jackie Green added: “Whoever left the methadone there was highly irresponsible. This must not be allowed to happen again.”

Roslyn, who is a full-time carer for her disabled 14-year-old son, was returning home from a trip to the shops when she spotted a green bottle lying on the ground in Forth Avenue.

When she took a closer look, she discovered the bottle contained methadone, which is given to drug addicts in a bid to wean them off heroin.

Roslyn said: “I felt sick. I have two kids of my own and I know how curious they get about things that they find.

“What makes things worse is that whoever left the bottle in the street ripped their name off the prescription label so that he or she couldn’t be traced.”

After making the shocking discovery, Roslyn telephoned pharmacy bosses for advice and was told to empty the bottle, rinse it and discard it safely.

Councillors representing the Paisley South West ward are now calling for tighter controls on methadone users to prevent a similar incident happening.

“I was appalled when I heard about what had happened,” said Councillor Lorraine Cameron, who is a mum-of-four. “I had no idea that people on a methadone programme could leave the chemist with their drugs and that is something I will be looking into.

“It’s a fact of life that children put things in their mouths and, if a youngster had got his or her hands on a drug like methadone, the consequences could have been disastrous.”

Councillor Green added: “Together with my fellow councillors, I will be talking with local pharmacists and the police to see how we prevent any further dangerous incidents involving drugs being discarded in the Foxbar area.”