'Unbelievable' - Councillor says he saw children inhaling laughing gas in Yorkshire city centre

And another claimed children might be so casual about indulging in soft drugs because their parents do the same. The issue of drug use came up at a meeting of Bradford Council’s Bradford east area committee earlier this week. Members had just been given an update on work being done in the constituency to help improve the lives of young people.

This included work to help with child mental health, and support for parents with addiction issues.

Councillor Taj Salam pointed out that poor mental health can sometimes be a result of drug use from a young age. He said the casual use of “soft” drugs, including nitrous oxide or laughing gas, was one of the biggest issues involving young people in the district.

He added: “This substance abuse can bring mental health problems. They are harming themselves at a young age. If kids are starting at 11 then by 19 they have often moved on to harder drugs.”

Referring to the use of nitrous oxide, Coun Salam said: “You see young people in cars doing it all the time. Kids are blatantly doing it. The other day I saw it right next to Kirkgate. There were kids with gas cannisters inhaling balloons. It was unbelievable – it was something I witnessed with my own eyes. If kids start off on the wrong track, they’ll be going wrong all their life.”

He said these drugs also made young people vulnerable to being exploited by criminal gangs, adding: “Criminal gangs are using kids to be their runners – the only enticement they need to give to the kids is to give them a packet at the end of it. It seems some parents are just blind to it.”

Councillor Riaz Ahmed said: “The problem is, are parents good role models? I also see 30, 40, 50-year-olds doing these drugs.”

He said he had not seen drugs until he became a councillor and carried out patrols with police.

Coun Ahmed added: “The majority of people in my age groups didn’t know what drugs were. A problem is that a lot of parents today probably do drugs.”

Lisa Brett, Early Help officer, said drug use was a “high priority” for the council’s early help and prevention teams. She added: “We help parents to identify when something like this is happening and to do something about it.”