A Tayside mum whose teenage son died hours after being given illicit medication wants the law changed to crack down on the black market supply of dangerous prescription drugs.
19-year-old Aidan Reid died at a property in Anstruther hours after being supplied oxycodone, a strong prescription painkiller, by 48-year-old Shane Whyte.
It is unclear if the drug caused his death and a sheriff said the mixing of alcohol with the oxycodone Whyte supplied “may or may not have killed” the teenager.
Aidan’s mum Cherie is now fighting to prevent needless drug deaths with a campaign to change the law.
She wants to see anyone convicted of illegally supplying prescription medication to be prevented from collecting them in bulk in future.
‘You couldn’t have been prouder’
Aidan was born and raised in Dundee, but moved with Cherie and brother Bobby, 13, to the village of Arncroach in early 2022.
Before his tragic death, pool-obsessed Aidan worked with mum Cherie at The Royal Hotel in Anstruther.
He had moved into his first flat just weeks before he died.
Cherie, who now lives in Arbroath, said: “He lived there five months and he was a local.
“His confidence really grew.
“You couldn’t have been prouder of the boy.
“He wasn’t just my son, he was my best friend.”
After his death, staff at the hotel installed a plaque in his memory.
His colleagues and family released orange balloons outside the hotel at a vigil, and did the same at Camperdown Park a year after his death.
‘For doctors to decide’
Aidan died at a property in Anstruther’s Watson Place on June 12 last year.
There, he had been supplied with oxycodone – a Class A opioid painkiller – by Shane Whyte, a man who only knew Aidan from working at the hotel.
NHS advice states that mixing the drug with alcohol may increase the risk of serious side effects.
Whyte appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court.
After admitting supplying the prescription drug to Aidan, he was sentenced to a 7pm to 7am curfew for two months.
Sheriff Alastair Brown said: “Firstly, combining alcohol with painkillers is always a very bad idea.
“It may or may not have been what killed the man, but alcohol and painkillers never mix.
“Secondly is that oxycodone is on prescription for a reason.
“The reason is to allow a doctor to decide whether it is a suitable medication for the patient to take.
“To share it with someone that has not had that is irresponsibility of the grossest kind.”
Tackling dealers
Cherie still has concerns over the investigation into her son’s death having received photographs taken on that tragic night.
And she is angered by Whyte’s sentence.
In court, prosecutors explained Aidan had been complaining of pain before the drug ended up in his system, however Cherie says her son asking for someone else’s medication would be out of character.
She believes the drugs were supplied for the purposes or humiliating or harming her son.
Still awaiting a toxicology report, Cherie understands there were more drugs found in Aidan’s system.
These include antidepressants amitriptyline and fluoxetine, gabapentin – used to treat epilepsy – and antibiotic norfloxacin.
Cherie believes her suggested law change would prevent dealers having access to enough prescription drugs to pass on.
She also hopes the possibility of a serious restriction would pose as a deterrent to anyone thinking of selling their medicine on the black market.
“My son was such an amazing young man.
“A lot of people are dying in Dundee through prescription drugs.
“Prescription drugs are so dangerous in the wrong hands.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson explained restricting access to prescription medication is possible but is at the discretion of prescribing doctors only.
They said: “Our thoughts are with Aidan’s family.
“The regulation, licensing and supply of medicines is reserved to the UK Government and includes issues relating to controlled drugs.
“The Scottish Government has no power to alter this.
“However, clinicians do have the option to request a prescription be dispensed in instalments, including daily, which can help reduce any risk of medicines being sold on in larger quantities.
“The decision on prescribing medication for a patient is entirely one for the clinician in charge of a person’s care.”
‘An avoidable tragedy’
Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice Pauline McNeill MSP believes such measures “make sense.”
She said: “The death of Aidan Reid was an avoidable tragedy.
“It makes sense that anyone who has illegally supplied prescription drugs be prevented from receiving such drugs in bulk.
“The question is whether it requires a change of law or whether it can be achieved through a change in existing practices.”
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