KIDS DEALING IN DEATH...AGED 13

144 Under-18s In Strathclyde Charged With Drug Supplying

Kids as young as 13 were among 144 alleged child drug dealers charged
by Strathclyde Police last year.

An Evening Times investigation found youngsters were accused of
dealing in a range of drugs, including heroin, crack cocaine and ecstasy.

Figures released to the Evening Times under Freedom of Information
laws reveal children were accused of supplying or intending to supply
in more than half of Strathclyde Police's sub-divisional areas,
including Glasgow city centre.

Six 13-year-olds and 10 teenagers aged 14 were among 73 under-18s
charged with dealing across Strathclyde last year. A further 71
under-18s were accused of intent to supply drugs.

In one case, in the Garscadden and Drumchapel area, a 17-year-old was
charged with intending to deal deadly crack cocaine.

In Maryhill, a 13-year-old child was accused of dealing in heroin,
while in Paisley a 14-year-old was accused of supplying
amphetamines.

Professor Neil McKegany, director of Glasgow University's Centre for
Drug Misuse Research, said the ages of the children involved and the
range of drugs they were accused of dealing was shocking.

He said: "One of the real concerns presented by the figures is the
seriousness of the drugs involved, including frequent instances of
class A drugs like cocaine and heroin.

"We're not just talking about drug use but an actual involvement in
supplying drugs at a young age, and these are individuals who are
making drugs available to their peers.

"They're at risk from drug addiction themselves but they're posing a
direct risk to their friends and peers.

"It is of immense concern that in the past three years we've seen
individuals as young as 12 involved in the supply of drugs "Some of
these children will be dealing on their own, to fund their own habits,
but you cannot rule out that some are involved in wider drug supply.

"Research has shown that young people are often targeted as drug
runners by older dealers because of their ability to deal and not be
noticed. There's been evidence of that in England and it would not
surprise me at all to see that in Glasgow.

"It raises very important questions about the responses to the
individuals involved.

"When they are picked up by the police these young people need to have
services targeted on them to address their own drug use, but we also
need to know where they are getting their drugs, and the extent of
their use and selling."

But Detective Sergeant Kenny Simpson, of Strathclyde Police Drug
Squad, said instances of youngsters dealing drugs was still relatively
small, especially when compared to other areas of the UK.

He said: "Young people are always a priority for us but drug supply is
not a serious problem with under-16s.

"To hand someone a cannabis spliff is technically supply, and these
figures reflect that. It's usually drugs taken within a circle of
friends, and a lot of what we see is cannabis and ecstasy, so-called
recreational drugs.

"The danger age, in my experience as a drug squad officer, is between
15 and the early 20s.

"That's where you see the attitude that people think they are
indestructible. We see it with alcohol and violence and with drug use,
and these are the areas we are trying to address.

"There are a thousand ways that we're trying to tackle it. We now have
officers in schools, and there's excellent partnership with the
Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency and education departments
to combat drug culture.

"Anyone who works with children - police, education, social work,
doctors - should have the skills to identify children with drug problems."

But he moved to dispel the myth of the drug dealer at the school
gates.

"I've not crashed many doors where it's 16 and 17 year-olds selling
drugs," he said.

"The concern is that, from my experience, 15 and 16-year-olds are
starting to look at what they're going to do in life and are seeing
dealers' attractive profits, but they don't see what's unattractive:
the prison time, the violence, the health issues."

Despite Glasgow's long association with heroin addiction, DS Simpson
said the city's young people were now showing a change in attitude
towards the deadly drug.

He said: "Children are wanting to become more glamorous and healthy
and attitudes to drugs like heroin have definitely changed..

"Cocaine and heroin are not really the drugs we're seeing young people
with."

DS Simpson added: "I'm optimistic that with the work we're doing to
combat gang culture and reduce violence we can have a positive impact
on drug culture as well.

"We're not trying to change an addiction, we're trying to change a
culture - and I'm optimistic we can do that."

Last month the Evening Times revealed that 173 children across the NHS
Greater Glasgow and Clyde board area needed hospital treatment for
drug abuse last year.