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There was a steep rise in drug-related crimes among the young last year despite the overall trend for crime being marginally down on 1999.

That is according to the latest report by the Government's crime watchdog.

The figures confirm fears that drugs are becoming more widespread among the young.

The number of drug-related arrests among juveniles aged seven to 15 increased from 76 in 1999 to 135 last year, a rise of 77.6 per cent. Among 16 to 20-year-olds, the increase went from 979 to 1,738, or 77.5 per cent.

The figure for drug-related offences for all age groups increased from 8,733 in 1999 to 10,139 last year.

The figures are carried in the Fight Against Crime Report.

Compared with 1999, the number of crimes reported dropped last year by 0.3 per cent.

Apart from 1997 and 1998, the crime rate last year was the lowest in the past 27 years.  Cases of homicide dropped by 31.7 per cent and bank robberies were down by 25 per cent.



Steep rise in drug crime among young