The World’s Youngest Drug Users
UNODC reports an estimated 172 -250 million drug users in the world with between 18 and 38 million addicted,in 2009. As drug abuse and dependence increases, so the age at which drugs are first used by children continues to drop. Afghanistan is said to have the lowest ages for children starting drug use in the world.
In a 2006 report by the Daily Mail, Britain’s youngest recorded heroin addict was given heroin by her mother. Put into care when she collapsed at school due to heroin use, then aged 11, she had been using heroin supplied by her mother since she was 10 years old. Researchers in the field found 30 heroin users under the age of 13 in Newcastle, and 60 in Glasgow, where the youngest recorded heroin addict lived.
More recently, at a UNODC conference on drug use in Abu Dhabi, officials confimed that in the Emirates the average age for starting drug abuse has dropped from 17 years old to 11, to bring them in line with most Westernized countries today.
In the Irish Examiner, reports from March 2011 record 10 year old’s using drugs such as cannabis and alcohol in and around Dublin. Community workers report that these children show up with patterns of addiction.
A three year old in Britain might have set a record – admitted to hospital for alcoholism after 6 months solid drinking, reports the Mail online in March 2011. He was among 13 children under the age of 12 diagnosed with alcoholism in Britain by the Heart of England NHS Trust between 2008 and 2010. Sadly, this child was given the alcohol he drank, and he appears to have suffered brain damage. The Trust has also treated 106 teenagers between 13 and 16 during this period for alcoholism, with 74 having been admitted as ER cases.
Only weeks ago an eight year old girl from Dundee was recorded as being Britain’s youngest practicing alcoholic. Coming from a family of binge drinkers it was not until, as a teen, she approached authorities for help that her chronic alcoholism was revealed.
Alcohol support groups say that they are being called upon to treat younger and younger children.
see article: a are limited to 15 years and over for mainstream drugs but are available for younger children where inhalant abuse is involved, inhalants being popular among younger children. Surveys in Canadian secondary schools find that most users of inhalants are between 10 and 17 years old, peaking between 12 and 15 years old. (Health Canada). Solvent abuse is particularly a problem among First Nation Inuit people, most childen starting solvent abuse at 11 years or younger, and around three quarters of the solvent abusers also using alcohol.
In a British study of children aged between 14 and 16 – 44% of those offered solvents made the choice to use them. (Manning 2001).
The bad news is for the world’s youngest drug users that they are likely to suffer more than other drug users from drug related harm.
A study from Royal Perth Hospital in Australia, in 2010, published in the Australian Medical Journal reveals that 20% of young drug users of speed, ecstasy and ice seen by ER had developed signs of brain damage, with two thirds of drug users complaining of concentration and mood problems, and general bad health.
The types of lesion seen in the brains of the drug users is associated in the elderly with increased risk of strokes, dementia and cognitive decline. Researchers comment that this aging of the brain with amphetamine use is consistent with the external appearance of aging that occurs with meth use. More research is needed to establish how much the structural abnormalities in the brain caused by drug use lead to functional disability.
Young children who abuse drugs are three times more likely to suffer brain damage than children who are not drug users. Scientists at the University of Edinborogh in 2005, studied 34 brains of deceased young drug users, and found signs of damage - high levels of two proteins associated with brain damage. General inflammation has already been discovered in the brains of young drug users – the results of the studies show that intravenous drug use in young people is associated with premature aging.
There is now a lot of research to show that younger a child begins to use drugs, and the more he uses, the greater is the risk of teen and early adult drug abuse with all its related harm and damage.
It is sad to hear of more and younger children, barely out of their cradle found addicted to alcohol or drugs yet no moves are made on behalf of the kids to investigate natural drug free options that can bring about full addiction recovery, and restore mind and body to health.
The Narconon program has drug free graduates who have been free of drug use for decades having used the program for a drug recovery that is completely safe and natural. Children from Chernobyl have been safely detoxed using the Narconon protocol. Improvement to health and full recovery occurs with the Narconon program.
Individuals and families who want to break free of drug use or alcoholism will find the support that they need and effective treatment by using the Narconon program.
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http://www.archive.org/details/VancouverAddictionHomelessChaosPoverty
The producers of this short film are both recovering addicts who have both spent time living and indulging with drug addiction in Vancouverâs Downtown Eastside. Today they are both clean and sober with multiple years of recovery The reasons for the making of this film are many, one being educational the other sharing with those who have suffered, this is a view of what life can be like in addiction and how extreme addiction can be The video was shot entirely in the downtown eastside it is a compilation of two years work with a variety of themes.We hope that by watching this work people will get a better understanding from a real perspective of what can happen to anyone who may slip through the cracks of society and end up with a drug problem. Some of the material may seem to be offensive or extreme but our experience has taught us that you cannot sugar coat a disease. If our work will deter any single individual from this horrendous lifestyle we feel our goal has been accomplished At this time I’d like o point out that we have had no formal training in video photo editing producing or directing this project ran both on emotion and desire to carry a message from our perspective. S. Heaney R. Mc laughlin Contact info phatpoochproductions@live.com richardmcl@msn.com phatpoochproductions@gmail.com