experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

And concern has mounted over an increasing number of teenaged junkies.

Some addicts are just 17, having started to use heroin in their mid-teens, it has been revealed.

"We are in serious trouble unless we do something about it,'' said Addiction Services counsellor Mr. Charles Williams.

His worries mirror those of Dr. Ed Schultz, director of the emergency department at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

He said his staff were coping daily with addicts suffering withdrawal symptoms.

"There has been a substantial increase in patients using heroin over the last two or three months,'' he told The Royal Gazette . "I would say we have had one heroin user a day come here in the last two weeks.'' Dr. Schultz also raised the alarm about crime increasing as people desperately sought money to satisfy their craving.

"It is my understanding that it is fairly expensive to obtain heroin in the street,'' he said. "If we have an increase in the number of people using heroin, they will have to resort to measures to obtain large amounts of money.'' Mr. Williams linked the increased number of people suffering withdrawal symptoms with the end of the cruise ship season.

When the cruise ships were here "the market was flooded'' with heroin, he said.

Now addicts were finding it much harder to feed their habit, and were turning to programmes such as Addiction Services.

"We are definitely getting more young people coming here, and they tend to be more aggressive and have a `I don't care' attitude about them.

"Their attitude is `give me what I want' which is very negative, and a lot harder for us to deal with.

"They are very immature, and don't want to be told what to do.'' He added: "We are finding some of the people are addicted when they are just 17 or 18 years old.

"They have been using the drug since they were 15. It really is a serious problem.'' Mr. Williams said those turning to Addiction Services were old and new clients.

The success of treatment programmes depended on how long drug users had been hooked.

"We get people who have been using drugs for 15 or 20 years and obviously it takes longer to get them to break the habit.'' Dr. Schultz explained heroin withdrawal symptoms included restlessness, nausea, and muscle cramping.

"Although they are not life-threatening they are very uncomfortable and unpleasant and can last for several days if not treated.'' He said most addicts admitted to the emergency department were aged 20 to 40.

One treatment was with the drug, Clonidine, often used for the control of hypertension.

Some patients were also put on the methadone programmes at Addiction Services or Montrose.

Dr. Schultz said many people today snorted heroin, rather than injected it.

This was because they feared catching AIDS or hepatitis through infected needles.

"There is a constant shift in the most popular drugs. People said it was coke in the 1980s, and there are still young people in the community who use coke.

"Such is the increase in use of heroin, however, that people are now wondering whether it is the drug of the '90s.'' But Dr. Schultz cautioned against believing cocaine was on the decline.

"I'm not sure it is. What we find is that generally patients never readily admit to using coke.

"They are far more likely to admit to using cannabis or heroin. I don't know why, it might be that heroin is more prevalent at this particular time.''