The majority of those under 15 were boys (29 in Fife and two in Tayside).

Pages of raw statistics, which build up a picture of drug misuse across the country, were released, compiled from information collected from family doctors and specialist drug services for the Scottish Drug Misuse Database.

The information relates to new patients and clients, and so the figures do not reflect the total number of drug misusers seen by services during any period.

In the 12 months to March 31, 12,657 new individuals across Scotland were reported to SDMD, an increase of nearly 1000 on the previous year.

In Fife, there were 992 new people attending, and 536 in Tayside.

Tayside failed to match the trend nationally, which shows a fall in the number of people reporting illicit use of heroin between 2002/03 and 2003/04.

In Tayside, the figures jumped from 192 to 334 across all age groups.

Tayside and Fife both failed to match the national trend of falls in the percentage of drug misusers who have injected themselves in the month prior to seeking treatment.

However, the increase in each case was only 1% over last year’s figures.

One of the most worrying implications of these facts is the effect of drug abuse on children.

Across Scotland, nearly one in five individuals reported they were living with dependent children.

In Fife, seven drug misusers were pregnant when reported as new patients to SDMD in 2003/04.

There were four pregnant drug misusers from Tayside reported in the same period.

Just under half of people across Scotland reported to SDMD in 2003/04 said they had previously been in prison. In Tayside, the figure was 47% and in Fife 40%.

Local statistics show that 12% of those reported in 2003/04 in both Tayside and Fife had never been employed. In Fife, 56% had been unemployed for a year or more, with 60% in that category in Tayside.