'The worst thing about my childhood was that she was the child and I was the mum' A new book reveals the harrowing stories of hidden victims of drug abuse, reports Carolyn Churchill

Although many of these youngsters are all too familiar with the neglect, abuse, anxiety and unpredictability associated with drug abuse, their problems can be overlooked. Support services often look simply to address the immediate needs of the drug-using parent.

ProfessorMarina Barnard, of the Centre for Drug Misuse Research at Glasgow University, thinks the time has come to redress the balance. She has undertaken the most extensive research of its kind in the UK, examining the effects of drug abuse taken from interviews with 182 drug abusers, their siblings, parents and children.

For Barnard, it was important to convey the full extent of drug taking. "I wanted to give, for once, a view of how drugs affect everybody in the family, by including as many of these family members as possible, " she says. "You could subtitle it Misery in the Family. It is a huge tale of misery for everybody, not least the person with the drug problem. The costs are enormous."

Herwork is now being published in Drug Addiction and Families, a book that paints a grim picture of the far-reaching effects of substance misuse. Her conclusion is that, in addition to setting up an integrated, multi-agency service, social workers must be prepared to take many youngsters living with the reality of drug abuse away from the family home and into care.

At the heart of Barnard's research are her interviews with 26 children between the ages of eight and 22. Instead of having childhoods filled with happy memories, these youngsters are often forced, through circumstance, to take on the role of carer - to their parent and to other siblings. Beth, 19, sums up her experience: "The worst thing about my childhood? I think it was the fact it was as if she was the child and I was the mum, it was the way it was kind of reversed."

For these children, the realities of drug overdoses, violence and criminality are all too apparent from an early age. Dan, 15, says: "These guys who used to buy stuff off my uncle, they all burst in and were holding knives up to our throats, asking for the drugs and the money and they were saying that they'd slit our throats if they didn't give them it."

The immediate effects include neglect and abuse. In the long term, these children are at risk of depression, anxiety, worry and behavioural problems. Research has also shown that their early exposure to drugs may lead to an elevated risk of developing their own drug habits.

Barnard's view is that to tackle this issue effectively, social workers must be prepared and equipped to make the difficult decision of taking these children into care. The number of child protection orders has already soared by 50per cent in five years.

The Scottish Executive stresses that protecting children from parental substance misuse is a priority. Earlier this year the First Minister, JackMcConnell, called for the children of drug-abusing parents to be removed from their homes. The executive view is: "Ideally, we would want to see parents and extended family supported to provide the right kind of care and in a timescale that reflects the needs of the child.

"However, ministers have made it clear that serious and chaotic substance misuse is incompatible with parenting and that effective action, including removal to care, should be taken where this is in the best interests of the child."

That's all very well, says Barnard, but in practice there is a reluctance to remove children. "We assume this maxim of 'parent is best', " she says. "People always say, if we take the children away and put them into care we're making it worse. The evidence is that it isn't always best to leave a child with the birth family. Many of these children ought not to be left in the care of their parents. It is not just damaging; it is taking away these children's young lives and turning them into sad, depressed, substance-misusing adults. These children deserve better."

THE executive has acknowledged these problems and has put policies in place to identify and protect children affected by drugs. A total of GBP23.7m was earmarked for drug treatment in 2005/06, while further resources are provided for the Scottish Network of Families Affected by Drugs and "multi-agency training of frontline staff and the development of protocols for those working with the children of drugmisusing parents".

However, Barnard concludes that, while the ongoing work from the executive is a positive development, the process of turning policy into practice is the stumbling block. "Support is urgently needed for everyone - children, siblings and parents - affected by a loved one's drug use. It is heartening that the executive is serious about this, " she says. However, "it is one thing to have policy, it is another thing for practitioners to put it into action.

"While policy-makers and policy documents are talking clearly of the primacy of children's welfare, they are leaving service providers in a vacuum of inadequate guidance and oversight. It doesn't just mean giving support in terms of guidance. It means proper funding and support for people who are doing the difficult work. At the level of current funding it is simply not going to be possible to support the numbers of families involved."

In Lanarkshire, pioneering work on a fully integrated, multi-agency approach has already been implemented and hailed as a success by researchers. It was developed by Lanarkshire Alcohol and Drug Action Team, NHS Lanarkshire and north and south Lanarkshire child protection committees, and has been running for two years.

Staff, including health visitors and drug workers, are being trained to recognise the needs of the families of people with drug and alcohol problems. When these people come into contact with support services for the first time, action will be taken at the earliest stage possible to protect any children.

Martin Kettle, children and family services manager for South Lanarkshire Council, says: "You can produce protocols but by themselves they don't make a difference. The protocol was followed up by a substantial training programme - briefings for managers and staff and two-day workshops which identify the key skills for staff working with families affected by substance misuse.

"It encourages earlier intervention, earlier identification of difficulties and a more coordinated response to needs. The crux is the child's interest. The key to this is to have all the information on the table at the same time and the same place. It is a very good example of the power of partnership working if it is done well."

Barnard, though, says: "Unless and until we can translate the aspirations of policy-makers into the reality of service providers' interventions, all the fine words that may be uttered will still leave families having to find their own way through the chaos and the tragedy that is their loved one's drug abuse."

Drug Addiction and Families (Jessica Kingsley, GBP19.99) is published on November 15.