20,000 SCOTS CHILDREN LIVE IN DRUG RISK HOMES

UP TO 20,000 children in Scotland are living in an environment where Class A
drugs such as ecstasy, heroin and cocaine are available.

The estimated figure emerged yesterday, a day after a year-old boy became
Britain's youngest ecstasy victim when he swallowed a tablet of the drug
found in his mother's handbag. The police have accepted the drug did not
belong to Alana Tague, 21, but was left there by someone else after a
weekend party.

Joe Tague, from Edinburgh, was admitted to hospital seriously ill and
suffering from hallucinations. He was yesterday recovering in hospital where
a spokeswoman described his condition as "stable and improving".

Family members, who have maintained a vigil at the city's Royal Hospital for
Sick Children, said they were overjoyed that he was expected to make a full
recovery.

The boy lives in a council flat in Leith with his sister, Tina, two, and
mother, Alana, who is divorced from their father, Ian, a former taxi-driver.
Police said that the quick response of his mother, who pulled another two
half-chewed tablets from his mouth, saved the baby's life.

Yesterday, drug experts revealed the huge numbers of children who grow up
surrounded by a drug culture where illegal substances are commonly brought
into the home by parents or friends.

Professor Neil McKeganey, director of the Centre for Drug Misuse Research,
said: "Although there's no absolutely reliable statistic, I have seen
figures of possibly 10,000 children in Scotland whose parents are addicts.
Add to that the numbers of children in households where one or both parents
are using ecstasy and that figure will double."

Alistair Ramsay, the director of Scotland Against Drugs, described the
statistic as "no surprise" and said the number of children affected by
parental drug abuse was increasing to the degree where SAD was developing
help specifically for children of drug-using parents.

"There are some children who are actually the carers of the parents. The
children are having to look after themselves as well as parents," said Mr
Ramsay.

The latest incident follows a call from the Police Federation for ecstasy,
taken by an estimated 65,000 Scots last year, to be downgraded to Class B,
the same category as cannabis.

The grandmother of Joe, Margaret Tague, 51, yesterday described ecstasy as
an "incredibly dangerous drug" which should remain Class A.

The incident also comes after several recent cases where children have
ingested drugs.

Last month, 20-month-old Phillip Brown, of Hamilton, was taken to hospital
after his mother found him sucking an ecstasy tablet.

Police refused to release further details of the latest incident but
confirmed they were treating the case as an accident.

Drugs campaigners said the incident highlighted the importance of parents
keeping control of all dangerous drugs.

Mr Ramsay said: "Parents who are using drugs and parents who have friends
who are using drugs must take care. There's always a risk that if there is
illegal substances they will find their way into the hands of very young
children.

"What I think is important is that people who are working with very young
children need to use every opportunity to talk to children about not putting
things in their mouths."

Janet Betts, the mother of Leah Betts who died after taking a single ecstasy
tablet on her 18th birthday, said: "The message is to be careful with
illegal drugs. Everyone who has had a toddler knows they get into
everything. And just one tablet can kill."

The Royal Hospital for Sick Children said: "The child's condition is stable
and improving. The child remains in hospital for observation."