A new hard-hitting report on drug misuse in Scotland was published yesterday with the the warning that addicts need more help to stop the cycle of misuse passing from parents to their children.

The Inquiry into Drug Misuse and Deprived Communities report shows that problem drug use in Scotland is inextricably linked to extreme forms of social exclusion, including homelessness, persistent offending and street prostitution.

Evidence shows that the link between drugs and deprivation has become so strong that drug-related hospital admissions in Scotland's poorest areas are now 17 times higher than in affluent areas. And in parts of Greater Glasgow, admission rates can be up to 200 times higher.

Within such communities, drug problems more commonly occur among young people whose parents themselves have alcohol, drug or other serious personal problems.

Those at particular risk include children in care, young offenders, truants and pupils excluded from school, and those involved in family conflict.

Serious drug misuse is rife among prisoners, the homeless, and street prostitutes, said the report by the Scottish Parliament's Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee.

It says: "The extent of the adverse effects of drugs on local communities can therefore not be overstated.

"A growing problem, with grave implications for the future, is that of children whose parents have serious drug problems.

"The widespread use of illegal drugs by young adults creates risks for children that were rare a generation ago.

"Among the most vulnerable are the children of drug addicts themselves. Of these there are now many.

"A recent, unpublished study of 463 drug injectors in Greater Glasgow found that they had 490 children between them. This suggests that there are perhaps 7,000 - 10,000 children in Greater Glasgow whose parents are drug addicts and perhaps 20,000 or more across Scotland.

"These children are often at a disadvantage right from the moment of conception. If the mother is an addict, the developing baby will be continuously bathed in a solution of drugs with uncertain consequences for its growth and development.

"Many babies in these circumstances are born addicted to drugs from which they may take weeks or months to recover and which have uncertain long-term consequences.

"With parents preoccupied with the search for money and drugs, a child's interests are unlikely to be its parents' top priority.

"Often the child will see little of his or her parents, being looked after by a grandparent or taken into care."

But even after the child is taken into care, children continue to be at risk, says the report.

The committee makes 36 recommendations to tackle the problem which is growing at an alarming rate.

There were an estimated 20,000 drug injectors in Scotland in 1994 but now it is thought there are as many as 30,000.

Between 1990 and 1999 acute general admissions for drug misuse rose from 944 to 4,234 while deaths among people who are known or are suspected to be drug dependent have almost doubled in the past five years.

The number of new clients or patients attending drug misuse services in Scotland has risen more than three-fold since 1992.

And the problem is also not confined to large urban areas. In smaller towns and rural areas that were relatively unaffected ten years ago, drug misuse among young people has been increasing rapidly, says the report.

Key among its recommendations were regeneration programmes accompanied by initiatives to support families, schools and young people most at risk of developing serious drug problems.

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