Bristol Green Party councillor Cara Lavan spent months pushing for a roaming drug van that would allow addicts to inject illegal drugs under supervision, until police halted it for being illegal. The proposals, exposed through emails released under transparency laws, included a mobile unit capable of operating across Bristol, targeting “high-risk” locations.
Proposals for a Mobile Drug Van
Emails from 2024 obtained through Freedom of Information Act laws showed that external organisations had been identified to help develop and operate the scheme. A new purpose-built medical van could have cost more than £110,000, although it was suggested an old ambulance could be used instead.
Labour MP David Taylor said: “Taxpayers expect their money to be spent catching drug dealers, not chauffeuring addicts around the city in a taxpayer-funded heroin van. This is exactly the kind of out-of-touch Green Party politics that leaves ordinary families wondering whether common sense has left the building.”
Police and Legal Hurdles
The proposal collapsed in December 2024 when Avon and Somerset Police warned it could not legally operate. In an email, Superintendent Mark Runacres, then Bristol Police Commander, said: “The position for policing nationally is that we can’t support the activity of an Overdose Prevention Centre, primarily because the current legislation doesn’t allow for it and its operation would involve the commission of criminal offences that we could not ignore.”
Overdose prevention centres are monitored healthcare facilities where people can use pre-obtained illicit drugs under supervision of trained staff who can immediately intervene to reverse overdoses.
City of Harm Reduction
Earlier this month, Bristol was declared the first official city of harm reduction after councillors voted to focus on “supporting drug users rather than punishing” them. The motion was put forward by Ms Lavan, whose partner died from a drug overdose. She said the decision sends a message to the government that the city wants a “more compassionate, evidence-led approach” to drug policy.
The move was backed by Green, Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors at a Bristol City Council meeting. Ms Lavan said that in 2024, 87 residents across the Bristol area died from a drug overdose, above the national average.
In response to her proposals, Ms Lavan said: “Since being elected, I have worked relentlessly to introduce measures that will save the lives of vulnerable drug users in Bristol through creating extra health intervention possibilities, including a mobile overdose prevention unit.
“I have spoken with drug treatment workers, homeless support workers, drug users and police officers who are in favour of the idea and can see it could have a positive long term impact on reducing problematic drug use and the anti-social behavioural elements associated with it.
“I also spoke with a charity who may have been able to both fund and academically support this proposal, ensuring solid research was carried out to measure its effectiveness.
“The police informed me that the Home Office would need to decide whether it was in the public interest to arrest staff or drug users involved with such a service in order for it to move forward.
“Despite over 100 overdose prevention centres operating successfully around the world since 1986, including one in Glasgow, successive Home Secretaries have said there is not enough evidence to support the introduction of such a service in Bristol.
“To my great disappointment, the Home Secretary’s response meant that Avon and Somerset Police felt they did not have the assurance they needed to enable the idea to go forward.”
