Pupils as young as 13 have been caught with cannabis in schools across Sunderland during the last year.
Figures obtained by the Echo under the Freedom of Information Act show that seven people, aged between 13 and 20, were found with the drug in Wearside schools.
This is a dramatic rise, with just nine pupils being found with "small amounts" of cann
abis between 2004 and 2007.
Pete Sanders, of drug awareness group Voice based in Sunniside, is blaming today's culture and the ready availability of paraphernalia promoting cannabis for the rise in the number of children dabbling with drugs.
He said: "The actual number of kids using drugs in schools is probably higher than that because all you see nowadays are kids with cannabis leaves drawn on their school books or on their shoelaces and mobile phones.
"There's a big industry out there that is set up to target kids and that is going to make them curious."
Peter, who has battled against drug addiction, also fears that for some, cannabis could mark the start of a spiralling drug habit.
He said: "There is a high chance that kids using cannabis will move on to harder drugs. At the time they don't realise that, I certainly didn't. I never set out for things to go that way.
"I started off smoking cannabis as a kid and soon moved on to bigger and better things but at the time I said I would never touch this or that but cannabis gets the better of you."
Sunderland City Council said it works alongside police and other agencies to teach kids about the dangers of drugs.
John Britton, of the council's children's services, said: "Sunderland schools work in partnership with Northumbria Police and other agencies within the city to promote health and legal messages to young people about the harm that drugs can cause at individual and community levels.
"With the help of central Government these partnerships work in schools to develop policies and education programmes around the issues around drugs and young people, to provide guidance and support to both pupils and staff.
"These issues include the potential consequences of drug misuse whether they are legal or illegal drugs, how to resist the offer of drugs and where to go for information and advice on substance abuse.
"The city council has also developed an educational resource, The Drug Education Roadshow, which helps children and young people to explore these issues together in class or individually with the appropriate agencies."
The full article contains 424 words and appears in Sunderland Echo newspaper.
