Surge in young people going into private addiction clinics as poorer addicts ‘pushed into gangs’
While well-off addicts can afford private treatment, poorer teenagers with mounting drug problems are being failed by public services, making them ‘ripe for grooming’, experts warn.
The number of under-18s accessing public drug and alcohol addiction services has plummeted despite a rise in youth drug abuse, while the number of young people being admitted to private rehab services has soared ( Rex )
The number of under-18s accessing public drug and alcohol addiction services has plummeted despite a rise in youth drug abuse, while the number of young people being admitted to private rehab services has soared.
Experts fear that a growing number of teenagers are being “pushed into gangs” as a rise in drug use among under-18s coupled with an ongoing decline in funding for free treatment services makes these young people “ripe for grooming”.
New government figures reveal the number of teenagers in public substance misuse services fell by 5 per cent last year, from 16,436 to 15,583, while the proportion of this under-18s who had used drugs increased from 10 per cent in 2014 to 15 per cent two years later.
Nearly a fifth of pupils say they had taken a drug in the last year, while separate data shows school exclusions for alcohol and drug use have increased substantially in recent years, up by 95 per cent since 2011.
Separate figures provided to The Independent meanwhile show that the number of under-21s being admitted to one of the UK’s leading rehab firms for substance-based addictions has surged by 186 per cent in the last three years, from 93 patients in 2015 to 266 this year.
For complete story go to ‘Cant arrest your way out of this? Can’t ‘rehab’ your way out either — Cost is even higher!”