The number of under-18s receiving drug treatment on the Isle of Wight has risen to 45, according to new figures, amid national concerns over overstretched services and limited access to specialist support.
Data analysed by the BBC Shared Data Unit shows that 45 young people received treatment for drug use in 2024/25 – up from 40 the year before.
Cannabis was the most commonly reported substance among those in treatment, followed by alcohol, ketamine, ecstasy and cocaine.
Of the 45 youngsters receiving drug treatment, 20 of them are under the age of 15.
It has also been revealed that the number of suspensions from school, related to drugs, has hit 110 – with 10 exclusions.
Nationally, more than 16,000 under-18s were in drug treatment across England last year – a 13% rise from 2023-24. Experts say easy access to drugs online, rising mental health issues and inconsistent treatment availability are contributing to the increase.
Professor Dame Carol Black, the government’s independent adviser on drugs, has said:
“We need the highest possible quality of treatment, delivered in a way that is accessible and acceptable to young people.
Article continues below this advertisement “Adequate in-patient facilities should be available for young people with complex needs but considered very carefully so that their education and connection to family needs are not unnecessarily disrupted.”
There are currently no state-run residential rehabilitation facilities for under-18s in the UK, and only a small number of places are available at private centres.
Parents need to take control of their children.
You only have to walk past McDonald’s in Newport
the amount of school children vaping and smoking
is alarming.
In the good old days the bobby who use tto walk the
beat would have stopped such nonsense and took
the nippers home to their parents.
Nowdays the parents are probably buying the
rubbish for them!
Total ban on drugs etc is the answer
Spot on, parents need to accept responsibility for their children’s welfare and behaviour, beat cops are also part of the answer. The current generation of teenage children are being let down by society, and need more enforced behavioural boundaries.
There also needs to be stricter enforcement around the sale of tobacco products and vapes, one breach and the retailer should lose their tobacco license. it’s a pity the new Tobacco,Cigarette and Vapes bill is taking so long to become law, hope it can be speeded up, as it will bring in much stricter cotrols.
I believe it would also benefit young people, and society in general, to restrict sale of alcohol in line with the Swedish system, where all drink off-sales of drinks with 3.5% or more of ABV are made only through chain of Government run premises. Sadly there are many shops who put profits before the law and sell to anyone, irrespective of age or sobriety, and the only way to stop this is to switch to the Swedish State controlled system. This would also make it much less easy for crooked drink retailers to sell illegally imported drinks in their shops, often such drinks suppled by organised crime groups, thus evading excise duty , which costs the `government dearly in lost revenues.
You are spot on, any shoo selling such products to
children need closing down.
Any parent supplying such to children need
disciplining.
Sadly, we are now in an era, where scum breeds scum, never taught any manners, principles, priorities, the kids don’t stand a chance to be any different than their parents, hence the now escalating problem of every city, town and street inundated with their feral brats, all protected with hand wringers and do-gooders preventing the law from dishing out proper punishments taking the problem under control
That is very true, back in the good old days
children that done wrong received the cane etc
in school and then their parents dealt with the children
after school.
Nowdays numpty parents stand by their children even
if they have done wrong and many attack teachers.
Who would want to be a teacher in lawless 2026 Britain.
All schools need a local bobby onsite during school hours.
It would also create more employment and create a better
society we live in.