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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Child drug abuse 'not new'
The Courier and Advertiser, Dundee
Friday 24 Sep 2004 A CAMPAIGN group reacted with frustration yesterday to a survey which found that children as young as 10 were using or had been offered illegal drugs. The survey of children aged 10 to 12 in Glasgow and Newcastle found that one-third had been exposed to drugs, one in 10 had been offered drugs and almost one In 20 had started to use them. The work, conducted by the centre for drug misuse at Glasgow Universlty, concluded that drug use was starting with younger children. The report called for schools and parents to collaborate in tackling child drug abuse, with a greater emphasis on developing approaches to drug education tailored to the needs of individ- ual pupils. It also recommended that parents exercise more supervision. However, Gaille McCann, of the Mothers Against Drugs cam- paign group, said she was "frustrated" by the report "The thing that outrages me is that this is nothing new," she said. The findings of the report are the same as what we have been saying for a long time. Hopefully these comments wilt now become credible because they have come from a professor. "People like ourselves see these children day in day out and it's almost as if we could write the script for the rest of their lives there and then. We know what's going to happen to them." Ms McCann agreed that more should be done in schools to prevent child drug abuse, but said the burden should be taken up by specialist workers and not simply dumped on teachers. Graeme McArthur, of the Scottish Drugs Forum, said, "I wouldn't have thought that this research would add much to what we already know about drugs. "Drugs like cannabis are ubiquitous and we know that young children can be exposed to it, be it through a brother, parent or other family member, such is its availability." The researchers, who questioned 2318 children, found that youngsters who were living in familes with a low level of parental supervision were eight times more likely to have started to use Illegal drugs than those whose parents exercised a high level of supervision. They also found that children living in families where other people were using illegal drugs were seven times more likely than their peers to have become users. Professor Neil McKeganey, head of the centre for drug misuse, said, "This research shows that illegal drug use is occurring at an increasingly young age and that, as a result, drug prevention is a more important task today than at any time in the past If we fail to meet the needs of these vulnera- ble young people we will race the horrifying prospect of increasing numbers of children who have become addicted to illegal drugs before their voices have broken." The survey also associated pre-teen drug use with frequent smoking and alcohol consumption and their involvement In a wide range of other kinds of behaviour at a young age such as committing acts of vandalism, skipping school or carrying weapons.
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