Kids getting 'hooked' on 50p Ecstasy

LONDON - British children as young as 10 are becoming hooked on 50p ($1.30) Ecstasy tablets in a disturbing new trend fuelled by rock-bottom prices.

Drug action teams are reporting that the drug, once favoured by clubbers, is now so cheap that schoolchildren are bingeing on as many as 20 pills at a time.

A survey by Lifeline, a drugs misuse charity, reveals that Ecstasy use has reached an all-time high, with more than half the children seen by its workers having used the drug.

Its research shows that this includes a core of problematic users who are experimenting with the drug before they reach their teens and some are taking thousands of Ecstasy pills a year.

Mark Linnell from Lifeline said the charity was researching the psychological effects on young people who take the drug, which has been linked with depression.

"Although the average age is 14, we are seeing children starting at 10 or 12," he said.

Ministers are under increasing pressure to clamp down on drug use, especially among young people, and have drawn up a new, tougher bill.

Last week, scientists revealed that the class A drug could damage the body's immune system and harm the chances long-term of treating depression.

- INDEPENDENT