330 EAST LANCS YOUNGSTERS ADDICTED TO DRUGS AND ALCOHOL

DRUG and alcohol addiction among young people is said to be "out of
control" with more than 330 are receiving treatment for their habits.

The number of people aged under 18 getting help has trebled in much of
East Lancashire in a year, with children as young as 11 coming
forward, shock figures reveal.

And the founder of an East Lancashire drugs charity said he was
"horrified" by the increase in the number of young people's addictions.

Drugs workers said that they now spent millions of pounds tackling the
problem and that dealing with young people was "one of our biggest
challenges".

In Blackburn with Darwen, 81 people aged under 18 - of whom 24 were
less than 16 years old - are currently receiving treatment - more than
double the 39 in 2005.

Some 252 are signed up for services in the rest of East Lancashire,
including Burnley, Pendle, Rossendale, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley.

Across the county, the drugs epidemic among young people dropped from
2005 to 2006, from 169 to 106 children, but more than trebled by June
2007 when 358 were in treatment.

The founder of Blackburn-based Those on the Margins of a Society
(THOMAS), Father Jim McCartney said addictions were symptoms of
deep-rooted problems that were not being addressed.

Father Jim, who runs THOMAS which provides a drop-in centre for the
homeless and help for ex-offenders, said he had helped addicts who
started using drugs as young as 11 years old.

The priest, based at St Anne's House, France Street, said: "The
problem has definitely got worse during recent years and I don't know
why it has got so bad. It's getting out of control.

He said: "I have been here for 14 years and I am horrified at the
increase in the number of young people that are passing through the
drop in centre for drug and alcohol addiction.

"There has been a rapid change over the last few years.

"A lot of these people are drifting with no purpose."

He blamed communication problems with youngsters and "society's
increasing expectations of teenagers."

Father Jim said: "There is a pattern with young people who get
addicted to drugs and alcohol. They have often been excluded from
school at an early age and drifted into crime in their early teens and
it all goes downhill from that point.

"By the time they arrive in early adulthood they realise they want to
change their lives and the process of transformation begins."

Two years ago the Lancashire Telegraph reported how drugs were so
cheap in East Lancashire that youngsters were picking up an ecstasy
tablet for cheaper than the price of a chocolate bar.

Drugs workers said narcotics were being made more easily available for
youngsters as the market among adults diminished in certain areas.

Drugs services in East Lancashire are taking action to combat the
problems.

Early Break has won the contract to provide drug services for young
people in Ribble Valley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Rossendale and Burnley.

Established for more than a decade in Bury and Rochdale, it has set up
a base at the St Philip's Grassroots Centre in Leeds Road, Nelson.

The services it is offering include needle exchanges, counselling and
support, relapse prevention and substitute prescriptions.

Tom Woodcock, strategic director of Lancashire Drug and Alcohol Action
Team, which commissions Early Break's services, said: "Dealing
effectively with young people represents one of our biggest challenges.

"Last year we invested millions of pounds in recommissioning the
services available for young people with a substance and alcohol
misuse problem.

"This has provided young people with greater access to a specialised
service tailored to their specific needs. This is reflected in the
number of young people entering services for help.

"In East Lancs 252 have accessed service in the first quarter of 2007.
As a drugs and alcohol action team DAAT we also recognise the
importance of educating young people to help prevent them from
developing a substance misuse problem, and through our partnership we
are engaging with young people as early as possible in schools and
youth clubs."

Recently a new drug treatment service was launched by the national
charity Addaction in Bacup after it was discovered that young users
were isolated from treatment services in Blackburn, Burnley and
Accrington.