Eight-year olds 'taking drugs, hooked by 11'

Children as young as eight and nine years old are using drugs and many of them are addicted by the time they seek help, according to Caritas director Victor Grech.

He said that although the majority of addicts start out with using cannabis before stepping up to harder drugs, children as young as 11 were already hooked on heroin.

Speaking on the occasion of International Day Against Drug Abuse, Mgr Grech said some traffickers offered drugs for free to youngsters to get them addicted. Then, he said, the young addicts start pushing drugs to finance their addiction, which can cost up to Lm80 a day.

Some young people thought the only way of enjoying themselves was to drink or take drugs.

"I feel that Malta is losing its fight against drug addiction and trafficking. Drugs are dispersed among Malta and Gozo, and those who have money and friends can buy as much as they want."

One of the most effective tools in the fight against drugs was to focus on preventive education in schools as part of a coordinated national plan, he said.

In a Where's Everybody? and Caritas initiative, secondary schoolchildren will be shown interviews with former drug addicts and people still hooked on illicit substances. The interviews were aired during two editions of the discussion programme Xarabank in April and May.

"This is a small but concrete step to expose students to the reality of the problem and offer an opportunity of reflection and follow-up."

The May programme had raised Lm45,000 for Caritas, which Mgr Grech said would go to its harm reduction centre set up two years ago. Last year the centre needed Lm55,000 to operate.

Parents too should be well informed about the effects of drugs - education director general Cecilia Borg said the DVD will also be shown to parents.

Mgr Grech said the state should facilitate the work being done by non-governmental organisations with drug addicts and their families, and stressed that the fight against drug trafficking should be intensified.

Although a good family background with strong values did have an effect on young people, drug addicts came from different social classes.

"We are all at risk of falling victims to drug abuse," Mgr Grech said.

Although the 2005 national report on the drug situation in Malta, published by the National Focal Point for Drugs and Drug Addiction, showed that there were between 1,500 and 1,700 estimated daily heroin users aged between 15 and 64, Mgr Grech said there were probably thousands more using different drugs who had not yet sought treatment.

Mgr Grech said there was still a stigma attached to drug addicts and he urged people to give them a chance. "It is never too late to do something about it," he said.