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Drugs deaths marked by forget-me-nots in Bristol

BBC Hand made flowers representing the thousands of people who have died of a drugs overdose in the UKBBC
The flowers represent the thousands of people who have died of a drugs overdose in the UK

Families who have lost a loved one to a drugs overdose have placed thousands of handmade flowers in a temporary flowerbed in their memory.

The event in front of City Hall in Bristol was organised by the campaign group Anyone's Child which is calling for the legalisation of drugs.

Jane Slater from Anyone's Child said "legal regulation would control what can be sold and to whom".

The government said it had no plans to decriminalise drug possession.

There were 2,670 deaths directly attributed to drug misuse in England last year - an increase of 16% from 2017, according to a report by MPs on the health and social care committee.

Cara Lavan Jake Coe and his son ReubenCara Lavan
Jake Coe relapsed into drug taking after being wrongly accused of a crime he was later cleared of by police

The committee described the level of such deaths in the UK as "a public health "emergency".

Cara Lavan's partner Jake Coe died from an accidental overdose of heroin and crack cocaine in April 2014.

"Prohibition didn't stop Jake from becoming addicted or dying," she said.

'Fear of retribution'

"It was horrifically easy for Jake to get those drugs - within half an hour - despite having no connections to people using them," said Ms Lavan.

"Of course he had no idea the purity or strength of the drugs he was taking because they came from street dealers.

"When he tried to get clean they would phone him up so he had to keep changing his number which cuts you off from contacts and family."

At the time the couple had a very young son.

"We couldn't get the help we needed because of the fear of retribution and punishment from the state," said Ms Lavan.

'Out of control'

"I believe if his drug use could have been treated as the medical issue it was rather than the criminal issue it wasn't, he would still be alive today."

Jane Slater said: "We have been trying 'just say no' for over 50 years and we have far from eradicated the problem.

"What we currently have is out of control - we as a society need to accept drug use exists and look at the reasons why and find ways to make it safer."