More than 900 drug crimes by children in Hucknall and wider Nottinghamshire in last decade

However, critics of drug prohibition warn giving a youngster a criminal record can negatively impact their future.

Ministry of Justice figures show 80 cautions or convictions were handed down to youngsters in Nottinghamshire over drug crimes in 2020-21, with the punishments among 904 recorded since records began in 2013-14.

Across the area covered by the Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire, drug crimes represented 10 per cent of the total 790 proven offences that resulted in a conviction or caution for children last year.

Steve Rolles, senior policy analyst at the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, said the figures were a ‘depressing reflection on the failure of UK drug policy’ and added that ‘nobody should be criminalised for personal drug use’.

He said a prohibitionist approach had gifted the control of drug markets to organised criminals, adding: "Rather than protecting children, the war on drugs has put them in harm's way, through criminalisation, of more potent and risky drugs and exploitation within illegal supply networks and county lines."

A Government spokesperson said it was combining tough enforcement with early intervention programmes and investing £200 million in its Youth Endowment Fund to divert children from crime.

It is establishing an evidence base to better understand how to prevent children from taking drugs but has no plans to decriminalise drug possession, saying it would not eliminate the crime or address the harms associated with drug dependence.

Dr Laura Garius of Release, the national centre for drugs expertise, called prohibition a gateway into further drug use and offending, adding: "There is no relationship between the toughness of a country's drug sanctions and the levels of drug use.

"Criminalising children for drug offences hinders their life chances and disrupts their education and employment outcomes.”

Detective Superintendent Michael Allen, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Where a young person has been found in possession of drugs, a police investigation will consider the circumstances surrounding why they might be in that situation, including whether they are being exploited by criminals.

“Where they have been deemed to have broken the law, a charge may not necessarily follow and a youth caution or conditional caution may be issued on referral to the Youth Justice Service.

“It is important however to recognise that no child or young adult sees themselves as untouchable and an appropriate intervention must be put in place, as doing nothing would expose the child to serious harm, given the violent backdrop of drugs markets.

“Nottinghamshire Police also has a dedicated County Lines unit within its Serious and Organised Crime department and this team is skilled in establishing whether those trafficking drugs are exploiting vulnerable victims, such as children.

“After identifying these vulnerable people, they are quickly safeguarded and protective measures are set up by the police and our partners, including children’s social care, health, education and the Barnardo’s Independent Child Trafficking service.

“As a law enforcement agency, Nottinghamshire Police is uncompromising in its pursuit of organised criminals who exploit children and young adults within a county lines enterprise.

“The force scours intelligence on a daily basis in detection of such criminality and will never tire from locking up these high harm offenders and stripping them of every conceivable illicit asset they have.”