‘Children as young as 10 are using cocaine’, says Scots Cllr

Ten-year-olds in Dumfries and Galloway are using the highly addictive drug cocaine, it has been revealed.

Linda Dorward, Councillor for Lochar and a member of the Dumfries and Galloway Alcohol and Drug Partnership, raised the issue at a recent council meeting and said preventative action was needed to protect future generations from using the Class A drug.

Between 2021 and 2023, 49 children aged 9-16 were sent home by their schools in Edinburgh for being found under the influence of, or in possession of, “illegal substances/drugs”.

Protecting 5-year-olds

Cllr Dorward told fellow Councillors: “I sit on the ADP board (Alcohol and Drug Partnership),  and we know that children as young as 10 are using cocaine in this region, which is appalling.

“No different from other regions, but that’s where we are in terms of substance use amongst our young people.

“So in terms of prevention, what we might want to be doing is looking ahead at how we can change behaviours in our five or 10 year olds – to ensure that they’re not repeating the same behaviours as they are now at 10 and 15.”

‘Wide availability’

Last month, a BBC undercover reporter posed as a child to buy four bottles of vape liquid via Snapchat that later tested positive for the so-called zombie drug spice. It is against the law for someone under 18 to vape in the UK.

According to research led by the University of Bath’s Professor Chris Pudney, up to “one-quarter of vapes confiscated in secondary schools in England contain the dangerous synthetic drug ‘spice’”.

Prof Pudney commented: “I am shocked at how blatant the sale of these drugs is on social media and the wide availability, particularly targeting platforms used by young people.”

He warned that “they’re being pushed a highly addictive, cheap drug with unpredictable and serious health effects, such as psychosis, seizures and heart problems”.

‘The whole mess’

A 16-year-old former addict told the Daily Mail that when she vaped spice for the first time, “it soon felt like I was swimming, I had stomach cramps, a crushing headache, and I just had to lie down on the floor to help me cope.

“I had no idea what was going on, I had horrific paranoia, it was a whole mess of stuff going on.”

She added: “I hated spice more than anything in the world, but it was all I wanted – it’s so hard to describe”.

‘Terrifying norm’

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo in May, secondary school Head Mark O’Hagan warned that the use of the Class B drug Ketamine was on the rise among children.

He said: “Six or seven years ago, we didn’t really know what ketamine was. Now, it’s in the common language of the children and for lots of children they do, unfortunately, see this as almost like a rite of passage. It’s seen as just a normal thing to do, to engage in this risk taking behaviour.”

Sexual health consultant Dr Verity Sullivan said: “people sometimes say, yeah, I use a bit of ket now and again.” She added that you soon “realise that their ketamine use is pretty regular. Local schools have reported that teenagers are regularly using ketamine in their lunch breaks. It’s absolutely terrifying.”