Remembering Peter Krykant, who knew harm reduction couldn’t wait

It’s been a few months since Peter Krykant’s passing in June, at the age of 48. He hit the global harm reduction scene with a bang. The story of him running an unauthorised overdose prevention site from a van in Glasgow, after years of inaction from the Scottish and British governments, catapulted him into the spotlight.

Krykant’s knack for public speaking and passion for helping people transform their lives were already clear from his past work and advocacy in Alcoholic Anonymous. But his campaigning became more urgent as he continued to see too many people hurting and dying around him. With British drug policy infamously resistant to change, he took action. He knew that something needed to change to keep people alive. Not in a few years, not after lengthy data collection processes, not after a change of political priorities—now.

After running the van for as long as he could with donations and savings—he was arrested for it in 2020, though the charges were ultimately dropped—Krykant’s activism went global. He fought for harm reduction over drug prohibition, and for community support, mutual aid, and radical love and care among people unfairly criminalised for how they live their lives.