When a toddler in Sheffield died last year from drinking methadone, it was a sharp and shocking indicator of just how vulnerable young children are to the dangers of living with drug-addict parents.
While methadone is a frequently prescribed, and often effective treatment, for heroin withdrawal, it has all the appearance of cough mixture and can be fatal if a child gets hold of it.
'Safety in the home is just one aspect of an escalating problem,' says Alex Bennett, co-ordinator at Sheffield Family Centre. 'It is ignorance on the part of some addict parents, who don't realise the danger of leaving their drugs and medication around where children can reach them - often in containers that are not child-proof.'
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