Children & drug rehab: Nine-year-olds among thousands seeking help with their addiction problems

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Family breakdown and school exclusion are just two factors that are turning Britain's youngsters into drug abusers, especially of cannabis. Last year, more than 9,000 went into treatment an increase of 20 per cent. Brian Brady and Nina Lakhani report Thousands of British children are receiving treatment for drug abuse as stresses including family breakdown and expulsion from school fuel a rise in young people appealing for help with their addictions. Official figures obtained by The Independent on Sunday have revealed that more than 9,000 children aged as young as nine entered treatment for drug problems in England last year. The total, revealed by health ministers, was up a fifth on the figure for 2005-06. More than half the young people in residential treatment units or reporting to GPs and community action teams list cannabis as the main drug they are abusing. But, in a disturbing signal that abuse of class A drugs is creeping into Britain's playgrounds, the proportion of young people in treatment listing cannabis as their principal drug is falling. The latest Department of Health figures come only days after the school inspection organisation, Ofsted, warned that one in seven 12- to 15-year-olds had tried illegal drugs. Experts warned that the rising toll of disclosed drug problems did not tell the full story, as many youngsters were suffering in silence or refusing to accept that their drug use had become a problem. But they insisted that the most of the youngsters involved were turning to drugs in a desperate attempt to deal with a mountain of problems. "We are working with about 3,000 young people across the country, and the age they start coming to us is getting lower," said Clare McNeil, a policy officer for the drug treatment charity Addaction. "We know that so many of the young people who have problems in this area just are not getting treatment anywhere. These figures are the tip of the iceberg." Ms McNeil said problems at school were emerging as a central factor. She added: "One of the main indicators for young people beginning to use drugs dramatically enough to warrant treatment is exclusion from school." The argument is backed up by east London teenager Scott Jacobs' experiences. He turned to cannabis to help him through the trauma of troubles at home and he found an instant escape. "My mum and her boyfriend were arguing in the house all the time and smoking helped me to sleep through the rows and just feel a bit happier," he said. "I started smoking with my mates at weekends and liked the buzz straight away. "I started having trouble getting up for school and ended up bunking off and smoking more, about Pfund10 worth everyday back then. The teachers wouldn't let me take my GCSEs as I had missed too many classes, and by then I was only hanging out with my mates who smoked." Earlier this year, the Government responded to mounting concerns over the "patchy" coverage of young people's drug treatment services across the country and fears that thousands like Scott were being overlooked with a declaration that every young person should be guaranteed "access to high-quality specialist substance misuse treatment provision when they need it". The latest government figures demonstrate the size of the task ahead of them. Almost 7,500 nine- to-15-year-olds entered drug treatment programmes in 2005-06, but the total rose to 9,031 last year. Although the number reporting cannabis as their main drug rose from 4,567 to 5,037, the proportion fell from 61 per cent to 56 per cent over the period. The steep rise in the rate of users of other drugs entering treatment backed up the findings of a poll of drug workers earlier this year, which revealed an increase in younger people appealing for help with a cocaine problem. The survey of staff at 80 drug services in 20 towns and cities, carried out by the charity Drugscope, established that a "two-tier" pricing structure had opened the cocaine market to younger and younger people. Figures from the National Treatment Agency (NTA) showed a rise in the number of children entering drug treatment with cocaine as their main problem drug in 2005-06. In 2004-05 there were 231 cases involving under 18s, but the figure rose to 471 the following year. Drugscope spokesman Harry Shapiro said the rise was closely linked to an increase in the stresses facing Britain's youth, documented in a shocking United Nations survey that put the UK bottom of an international table of child well-being.