ABOUT 319 children have been admitted to Colchester General Hospital after drug overdoses in the past five years.
Latest figures show 63 of them were aged ten or under, 126 were between 11 and 15 years old and 130 were between 16 and 18 years old.
It includes not only illegal drugs such as hallucinogens but also legal drugs such as antibiotics given on prescription.
In comparison there were 399 child admissions for overdoses at Guy’s and St Thomas Foundation NHS Trust in London and 249 at Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust.
The figures show there were 1,889 adult admissions for the same reason in Colchester since 2002/3.
The Department of Health released the figures after questions were raised by Liberal Democrat shadow health spokesman Norman Lamb in Parliament.
Colchester’s Lib Dem MP Bob Russell described the figures as “horrifying”.
He said: “This isn’t just about illegal drug use. For whatever reason, youngsters are taking legal drugs which they shouldn’t."
- More in today's Gazette
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