Calls for early intervention and education in Teesside schools to tackle drug use
The North East has the highest number of youngsters in England getting help for drug use
Last updated 13th Jan 2026
A Teesside charity is calling for investment into early intervention and education in school to help tackle young people taking drugs.
The North East has the highest number of young people in England getting help for drug use.
For every 10 thousand under 18's here, 22 of them are in treatment.
More than 60% are under 15, and most are using cannabis.
Scott Rowell, a young person's substances misuse worker at With You in Redcar, said: "It's not saying necessarily that young people are using drugs more than they used to, it means they're accessing services more than they're used to. Initially it might sound like a worrying thing that they're accessing drug services but it's actually a really positive thing that they're accessing support to make those positive changes.
"We've been working with schools, along with one of the THRIVE partners of Harbour, talking about substance misuse, domestic abuse and these other things that may impact these young people's lives at a very early age. We're talking about year 5s and year 6s is where this project starts.
"It gets them used to drug services, it gets them used to knowing that we're not scary, we're real people and where we're coming from and that idea of supporting them to minimise harm is absolutely at our forefront.
"Naivety can be really big and stigma can be a really big thing. The more we can disperse these things, the more of an impact it's going to have. There's still young people that won't engage in our service purely because of stigma working with a drug service, and the more we can dispel that the more support we can give them, and the more support we give, the more we can help them and their families.
"We do assemblies at schools and if schools have identified classrooms of specific young people that may benefit more than other young people, we'll do integrated work. If we have a drug alert of something that we see that we think young people need to be aware of the risks of that straight away. We're currently doing that with ketamine.
"Going into schools we're doing full classroom sessions based on ketamine letting them know the facts and the fiction, the myths, the good, bad and the ugly. We'll also do one-to-one sessions which is about social interventions, where we talk about minimisation, reduction, planning and we bring that fully within what it is for that person specifically.
"We've also set up a clinic alongside James Cook Hospital where anyone that's been referred to urology for any of the problems with ketamine, they'll also be then referred to a drug worker straight away so we can get the drug intervention going, as well as the physical health intervention that they're having with urology."
The government says they're providing funding to expand treatment.
Support
In Redcar and Cleveland WithYou provides drug and alcohol services for adults, young people and families as a member of the THRIVE partnership (England’s first Integrated Domestic Abuse and Substance Use partnership). For more information, including how to refer, visit their website.
You can visit With You at 161 High Street, Redcar, TS10 3AN, call them on 0300 3033781 or use the live chat feature on its website, which is manned by humans and not AI.
THRIVE is England’s first Integrated Domestic Abuse and Substance Use (IDAS) partnership, bringing together three specialist charities to address complex, overlapping needs in Redcar and Cleveland: WithYou – Lead partner providing drug and alcohol support for adults and young people, Harbour – Domestic abuse charity offering advice, advocacy and safe accommodation for survivors and perpetrators, and Intuitive Thinking Skills (ITS) – Peer-led education and behavioural change provider.
Working closely with Recovery Connections and other partners, THRIVE offers a holistic, trauma informed model that prioritises safety, recovery and long term independence.