Crack and cannabis were among the drugs in circulation (Photo: Michael Scalet)

More than 200 young teenagers, many of them schoolchildren, were caught in possession of drugs in Hackney in a single year, statistics have shown.

The number of 13-17 year-olds caught with drugs in the borough has risen sharply from none at all in 2005 to a peak of 208 in 2008, according to information obtained by The Hackney Post under the Freedom of Information Act 2001 – although police admit the figures only “skim the surface” of Hackney’s teenage drug problem.

Over 650 Hackney teenagers were arrested between 2005 and 2010 for drug possession, which includes 30 arrested for drug supply offences. The drugs in circulation were cocaine, crack, cannabis, crystal meth, heroin, ketamine, MDMA (ecstasy) and steroids.

Pressure groups, such as DrugScope, said the number of teens involved in drug supply was “concerning”.

However, Hackney’s Safer Neighbourhood Teams said the stats do not reveal the larger problem because the resources are not there to attack low-level drug crimes.

A spokesman for Hackney’s Safer Neighbourhood Teams said: “While we do have some resources working outside the borough on people importing cocaine we don’t have a large number of resources catching people at the lower level.

“I don’t say we don’t try, but we don’t try very hard,” he added.

Harry Shapiro, spokesman for DrugScope, said: “The fact that some young people are getting involved in drug supply is obviously concerning.

“Addressing underlying causes such as problems at home or school, a lack of access to decent accommodation, training or leisure activities is vital.”

Andrew Boff, the Conservative’s mayoral candidate for Hackney, supported the police’s decision not to tackle youth-related drug use. He claimed it would “alienate” local communities.

“The police have got to allocate their time in the most appropriate fashion,” he said. “They have to focus on protecting people from knife crime and I’m much more happy if they are doing that rather than chasing young people for dope.

“The problem in Hackney is about young people not being aware about narcotics and they are testing and playing with them, causing the problems. We should be informing them more.”