Number of Blackpool young people going to hospital for substance misuse has risen

New official figures show that the number of youngsters in Blackpool being admitted to hospital related to substance abuse has risen by 90 percent in ten years.
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Public Health England figures show that hospitals across the North West have had to deal with almost 3,000 admission episodes of kids and young adults between 2016-2018; hundreds more than they faced a decade ago.

In Blackpool the figure rose from 58 admissions for 2008 to 2011, to 110 for 2016 to 2019.

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Only Sefton on Merseyside had a higher percentage rise in the region.

The number of hospital admission among 15 to 25-year-olds in Blackpool has risen according to new figuresThe number of hospital admission among 15 to 25-year-olds in Blackpool has risen according to new figures
The number of hospital admission among 15 to 25-year-olds in Blackpool has risen according to new figures

Analysis of the statistics by drug addiction treatment firm UKAT showed that the number of hospital admissions across the North West of 15 to 24-year-olds rose in ten years from 2,551 in 2008/09-10/11 to 2,880 in 2016/17-18/19, a 15 per cent hike.

Public Health England said the figures were representative of hospital admissions where the primary diagnosis could be mental and behavioural disorders due to opioids (such as heroin), cannabinoids (such asTHC), sedatives (alcohol and Xanax), cocaine, hallucinogens (LSD and Ketamine) or psychoactive substances such as Spice.

Nuno Albuquerque, from UKAT, said: “These figures are extremely concerning, especially because they won’t paint the whole picture. There’ll be countless more children and young adults living across the North West misusing drugs without the need for hospitalisation; this report shows the worst outcomes of when kids ‘experiment’ with drugs.

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“Drug misuse at such an early age can result in real long-term physical and social problems; not only are they negatively altering the way their brain grows and develops, but they could miss out on education, develop limited human relationships, withdraw from society and turn to crime to fund their habit.”