Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jan 2000
Source: Scotsman (UK)
Copyright: The Scotsman Publications Ltd 2000
Contact:  http://www.scotsman.com/
Forum: http://www.scotsman.com/
Author: Tracey Lawson

FEARS FOR ADDICTS' CHILDREN AFTER BOY TAKES HEROIN

GREATER protection for the children of drug addicts was demanded last night
after a three-year-old boy nearly died after swallowing a bag of heroin.

A man and woman were charged by police in Glasgow yesterday as the child
remained in intensive care at the city's Royal Hospital for Sick Children.

As investigations into the boy's potentially lethal overdose continued,
social services staff in Glasgow disclosed that up to 4,000 children in the
city are believed to be living with parents addicted to drugs.

Anti-drugs campaigners last night demanded more stringent measures to
protect children and called for the creation of a social services register
to list all children known to be living with parents who are addicts.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was taken to hospital on
Wednesday night after his mother discover-ed him unconscious in the family's
flat in Dalmarnock, Glasgow.

Doctors at the Yorkhill children's hospital worked through the night to save
his life after the accidental overdose.

Last night, he was understood to be in a serious condition, though
recovering, and was expected to be moved out of intensive care.

Toxicology tests are continuing but, while it is unclear how much heroin the
boy swallowed, some reports suggested he took the equivalent of six adult
"hits" of the drug.

Strathclyde Police confirmed that a 29-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman
who have not been named have been reported to the procurator-fiscal.

Both have been charged with offences under the Children and Young Persons
(Scotland) Act. The man has also been charged with drug offences following
the incident.

Glasgow City Council said yesterday that the boy had not been in the care of
its social services department when the incident occurred, but its staff
were now investigating the circumstances.

Iona Colvin, the principal officer for the council's drugs services, said
that recent research which found 1,000 children living with the 4,000
addicts using the council's drugs services might only be a quarter of the
total number of youngsters cared for by drug users in the city.

She said that measures were already in place to protect children at risk of
drug abuse in the home, but admitted that the children of addicts are not
automatically placed on the council's child protection "at risk" register.

She said: "Drug users are assessed and those who have children believed to
be at risk are referred to the child protection services."

Last week, a couple, who were both heroin addicts, were jailed for five
years each for the neglect of a girl whose leg was left in a heavy plaster
cast for ten months before she was found lying in squalor in her Glasgow
home. Her fingernails had not been cut for a year.

In 1998 Allan Harper, 13, whose mother was an addict, became Scotland's
youngest heroin victim after taking drugs while staying at the home of a
family friend in Cranhill, Glasgow.

Gaille McCann, the spokeswoman for Mother Against Drugs, a campaigning group
set up in the wake of Allan Harper's death and a member of the council's
social work committee, said the latest overdose involving a child was an
"accident waiting to happen".

She said: "There is an awful sense of inevitability about this. We should
put the needs of these children before those of the addicts and have them
listed on a special register for the own protection."

Angus MacKay, the deputy justice minister, who has responsibility for drugs
policy, said: "Any incident concerning drugs is extremely regrettable,
especially when young people or children are involved.

"Last week I announced an extra UKP2 million for social inclusion
partnerships to ensure those communities which want to stand up to the
scourge of drugs can do so."
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