Juveniles get hooked on drugs at younger age

A REPORT on treating drugs abuse has found that juveniles are getting hooked at a younger age, and there’s an increase in the number of young women requiring help.

According to study set up by a Health Services Executive working group, there were 2,034 people under the age of 18 who needed treatment in the last decade in the Eastern Regional Area.

Over this period the proportion of young women increased, the proportion living with family fell and a small, but significant number, were homeless or living alone with young children.

Opiates, cannabis and, to a smaller extent, volatile inhalants and ecstasy were listed as the drugs of choice by those who sought treatment.

The study showed that one-fifth of new cases said they had injected an illicit substance into their bodies.

A worrying aspect was that the average age for initial drugs use fell from 15 to 14 years old between 1995 and 2000, while the average age for injecting drugs was 16.

Outside the Eastern Region first treatment contacts by under-18s rose from 111 in 1996 to 213 in 2000. As in the Eastern Region the upward trend in the number of young women taking drugs was also confirmed.

Outside the capital and its main hinterland a large number of those with drug problems reported leaving school early, and the main drugs abused were cannabis and to a lesser extent ecstasy.

Those who compiled the 80-page report said it was clear that attendances by children accounted for a very substantial proportion of the workload of the addiction services.

They recommended that services needed to be child-centred and designed in such a way that young people would be encouraged into and retained in order to benefit from treatment and rehabilitation services.

Early intervention initiatives are also proposed. These should focus primarily on developing and supporting protective factors, especially for those at risk of dropping out of school at an early age.

Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney, welcomed the comprehensive report which she said sets out ways of recognising potential problems and intervening at an early stage of a teenager’s drug misuse.

She said that her department had set aside €500,000 to the HSE Eastern Region to fund the development of services for this age group.

Services will be based on a four-tier approach involving increased linkage with teachers, gardaí, social services, and more specialised groups such as drug treatment centres, Youthreach groups and local drugs taskforces.