Black Country youngsters as young as 12 referred for drug and alcohol treatment
Children as young as 12 are being referred to drug and alcohol treatment services in the Black Country, it was revealed today.
They are among hundreds of youngsters across the UK to be treated, with Scotland even seeing a four-year-old referred.
Charities today called for improved drugs education in schools, with primary school pupils among those vulnerable to the dangers of drink and drugs.
Some are being flagged up as at risk of becoming addicts.
Treatment experts said the most common reason for children to come into contact with drugs and alcohol was through their parents.
They said preventative work was key to heading off misuse among youngsters.
The worst areas in the investigation included South Ayrshire in Scotland, where children as young as four had been referred.
Freedom of information requests by the Press Association found that elsewhere eight-year-olds had been referred to services in Waltham Forest and East Ayrshire, while nine-year-olds had been referred in Herefordshire, Liverpool and Oxfordshire among others.
In the Black Country, both Wolverhampton and Sandwell had seen 12-year-olds referred, while the youngest in Birmingham was 11.
Andrew Brown, director of programmes at charity Mentor UK, which works to protect children from drug and alcohol misuse, said he was shocked at the findings.
"We think it is vital that alcohol and drug education improve," he said.
"Our own survey of teachers suggests that at the moment delivery is inconsistent, and that the norm is to timetable only one or two sessions a year."
A referral can mean the child is vulnerable to drug and alcohol misuse through exposure from a parent or other relative, or could have started abusing substances themselves.
Some 366 children aged 12 or under were referred for treatment in 2012/13 in England, according to the most recent figures from Public Health England, compared with 433 in 2011/12.
More than half of under-13s - 59 per cent - received treatment for cannabis misuse, while a third were treated for alcohol misuse. A small number abused solvents.
Children are most commonly referred for treatment by education providers or youth offending teams.
Steve McCabe, shadow minister for children and families, said the Government's drugs strategy wasn't working.
He added: "I have thought for a long time that there needs to be a proper PSHE (personal, social, health and economic education) strategy to deal with many of the challenges of growing up and this should not be confined to schools but must be woven into the fabric of activity in schools.
"This applies to issues such as sex and relationship education, pornography, drugs and a broad range of other social matters.
"I think it also highlights the need for an urgent improvement in children and adolescent mental health services."
Earlier this month, one of the Government's official drug advisers called for drugs education to be broadened.
A Government spokeswoman said of the findings: "Teachers are also free to use their professional judgment to address any specific issues that meet the needs of their pupils through PSHE.
"We are working with the PSHE Association to help teachers talk about these issues with pupils in the most effective and sensitive way."