THE 'UNACCEPTABLE' REALITY OF THE WIDESPREAD USE OF ILLEGAL DRUGS BY
OUR YOUNGSTERS

CHILDREN as young as 10 are being charged with drug offences in Wales,
according to figures obtained by the Western Mail.

The figures detail a wide range of drug offences committed in each of
Wales' four police force areas and show that hundreds of teenagers and
younger children were arrested or charged with drug offences last year.

Police officials yesterday said it was "unacceptable" that children
were falling victim to drug abuse.

While the majority of offences involved cannabis, some have involved
the possession of heroin or cocaine, and groups dealing with young
drug offenders said they had worked in rare instances with children as
young as 14 who had taken heroin.

The police and other organisations said "vulnerable" young people
would sometimes be preyed on by older pushers, while it was also
claimed that cannabis remained the gateway to harder drugs and that
its downgrading to a class C drug in 2004 had set the fight against
drugs back several years.

Figures from South Wales Police showed that 217 people aged between 10
and 17 were arrested for unspecified drugs offences in the 2006-07
financial year, with the youngest of these aged 10.

North Wales Police said that since 2002, 10 people aged 17 or under
had been charged with possession of cocaine, with a further six
charged with possession with intent to supply.

In that time, 50 people under 17 had also been charged with possession
of Ecstasy and 1,032 in possession of cannabis.

The force said its youngest drugs offender between 2004 and 2006 was
11 with the youngest in the last financial year being 12.

Between 2005 and 2007, Gwent Police said the youngest children charged
with drug offences, in this instance trafficking and possession of
cannabis, were 11.

In 2006-07, 164 people aged between 11 and 17 were charged with
possessing cannabis in the force area, five with possessing
amphetamine, five with Ecstasy, one with cocaine and one with
ketamine, a drug which is still rare in Wales.

The youngest person charged by Dyfed-Powys Police with a drugs offence
since 2005 is also 11 years old. One of the age categories used by the
force is "five to 15" and in 2004-05, one person in this category was
charged with possessing heroin.

The force charged 36 children aged 15 or under with possessing
cannabis last year.

One teaching union warned yesterday that drugs were available to all
young people in Wales and dealer turf wars sometimes spilled over into
schools.

Dr Philip Dixon, director of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers
Cymru, said he knew of one rural secondary school where a 14-year-old
had been involved in school fights over drug selling.

"We are living in cloud cuckoo land if we think children in any of our
secondary schools and colleges don't have access to drugs," Dr Dixon
warned.

Ecstasy now routinely costs around UKP2 a pill, less than a pint of beer
in most pubs with heroin sold in UKP10 wraps, and a "teenth" (sixteenth
of an ounce) of cannabis costing around UKP5. Cocaine remains
comparatively expensive, usually costing between UKP40 and UKP55 a gram.

Yesterday, those working firsthand with drug users gave their reasons
for drug use among teenagers and younger children.

Paul Cannon, a former police officer who is now a Rhondda Cynon Taff
councillor and founder of Raid - Rhondda Against Illegal Drugs - said,
"Top of the list of what is doing harm [to trying to reduce drug use]
is the reclassification of cannabis from class B to C.

"That was an absolutely major mistake. It has knocked us back years.
It gave out wrong and mixed messages and we will pay a penalty for
it.

"It is a gateway drug. No one decides, having never done drugs before,
to take heroin, they always start on cannabis. It is the easiest thing
in the world to get cannabis. And the people who deal cannabis do not
only deal cannabis.

Mr Cannon said instances where younger teenagers became involved with
hard drugs like heroin and cocaine were rare but said Raid had dealt
with more than one case where children as young as 14 had become
involved with heroin.

"I firmly believe you have got to get to the children before they make
the transition from primary to secondary school, where they will come
into contact with it more and face peer pressure," he said.

"But at the moment, the messages from television and celebrity go
against the message we are pushing.

"I see nothing that convinces me we have turned the corner. I'm seeing
the same issues, the same problems and the same people now that I did
five or six years ago.

"But there are an awful lot of resources being put towards drugs by
the police and the local authority is heavily involved. I do not know
how much harder we can get the message out."

Supt Tim Jones, of South Wales Police, who oversaw a recent police
undercover operation in Bridgend which drew to a close on Tuesday with
26 heroin dealers and users - including one 17-year-old - jailed for a
total of more than 70 years, said heroin use was more common after the
age of 20.

"Heroin use doesn't start becoming prevalent until they are into their
early twenties and beyond," he said. "But substance misuse can start
at an earlier age.

"A pattern would be they drink a lot of alcohol, move to something
like temazepam or cannabis or amphetamine and would later try
something harder."

Catriona Williams, chief executive of Children in Wales, said drug
problems among children were often "masterminded by adults".

"We know over the years of deliberate attempts by drug pushers to get
young children hooked," she said.

"A child of 10 involved in drugs is a child in need of support and
help. It is an issue which needs continuing action to be taken both
from the point of view of supporting children and prosecuting the
adults who are deliberately pushing drugs in the direction of children."

Shirley Jones, area manager for the West Glamorgan Council On Alcohol
and Drug Abuse (Wgcada), based in Neath, said teenagers between 14 and
16 regularly accessed their services.

Ms Jones said alcohol, cannabis and solvent abuse were far more common
than class A drugs among young children but that cocaine and heroin
use among children that age was "not unheard of".

"One issue is that drugs have become cheaper while children have more
money to spend," she said.

In June, a report by Estyn said around a quarter of 15-year-olds use
drugs, mainly cannabis, at least once a week, while a Home Office
survey of 2005 said class A drug use among 11-15 year olds was around
4%.

In April, the Statistics on Drug Misuse: England 2007 report said almost
a third of 15-year-olds in England and Wales admitted drug use. In June,
a report by Estyn earlier this year said about a quarter of 15-year-olds
use drugs, mainly cannabis, at least once a week, while a Home Office
survey of 2005 said class A drug use among 11-15 year olds was around 4%.

A spokesman for South Wales Police said, "Overall, figures for drug
offences committed by under-16s in South Wales is relatively low but
the levels that are evident are unacceptable and we are working
extremely hard to educate young people through initiatives in schools
and youth orientated organisations across the force area.

"There are a whole range of reasons why young people may be tempted by
illegal substances, such as peer pressure, or a breakdown in family
life. Drug pushers who carry out their illegal trade can easily take
advantage of such impressionable young people, and care nothing for
those who choose to use drugs, regardless of age.

"In addition to law enforcement, education is the most important tool
in our armoury in the fight against drugs use."

Gareth Matthewson, head of Wales's largest secondary school,
Whitchurch High in Cardiff, said there were "one or two cases a year"
of pupils arriving in school under the influence of drugs.

"Our job is to educate pupils about these substances and the
consequences of taking them," he said.

Both he and Dr Dixon warned that drugs affected students' work. They
are told about this during discussions about drugs which form part of
the school curriculum in personal and social development classes.

Anne O'Connell, young persons worker for the charity Drugaid,
regularly goes into schools to speak to students.

"Any drug is going to affect work," she said.

The impact on studies "depends on what you are using - if a young
person is using cannabis then revision won't work because it may cause
memory problems".

Children and teenagers who smoke cannabis could also be at a higher
risk of experiencing serious mental health problems later in life.

Research at Cardiff University dispels the myth that cannabis is a
"soft" or "harmless" drug after linking even occasional use of the
Class C drug to serious mental health problems later in life.

Dr Stanley Zammit, a clinical lecturer in the psychology of medicine
at Cardiff University, said there was now enough evidence to warn
young people that using cannabis could increase their risk of
developing a psychotic illness later in life.

He said, "The amount of people using cannabis has increased over the
last 20 to 30 years and although it seems to be levelling off in some
age groups, people are starting to use it at a younger age.

"There is reason to believe that people who start at a young age may
have a greater risk of developing a psychotic illness.

"The evidence says that cannabis is not a 'harmless'
drug."

[sidebar]

DRUGS - HOW YOUNG ARE THOSE ARRESTED?

Age of the youngest person to be arrested for drugs offences last
year, by force area:

South Wales Police: 10

North Wales Police: 12

Gwent: 13

Dyfed-Powys: 12