Meet the boy, 13, whose addiction to synthetic high Spice is tearing his family apart

A 13-year-old schoolboy addicted to Spice has spoken about how he smokes the drug all day until he passes out.

Jamie Poulton, 13, from Lincoln, Lincolnshire, started taking a variation of synthetic cannabis called Black Mamba two years ago to deal with mental issues.

But in the past two months his usage has grown so much he begs his family for money and steals to fund his £10 a day habit.

Substances such as Spice used to be legal highs but were banned in May this year.

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Jamie has been expelled from three schools for bad behaviour and is currently attending a special school for disruptive pupils for an hour and a half each day.

“I take the drugs but it doesn’t help,” he said. “It’s tearing me and my family apart.

“All I think about is drugs but I don’t want to think about that.

“Family comes before drugs but I need help and extra support.”

Jamie’s grandmother, Teresa Poulton, 49, wants to warn other families about the dangers of the drug.

“All he does is smoke the drug, it’s all he thinks about,” she said.

“He doesn’t eat, he can’t sleep, he just tries to block out everything else in his life by smoking Black Mamba.

“He pays for it by going round his mum’s house and asking her for £3.

“He then comes round mine and tells me his mum won’t give him any money so can he have £3.

“He says it’s for a KFC but I know it’s for drugs.

“If I don’t give it to him he kicks off and smashes the house up so I end up giving in.

“When he can’t get money things go missing. Anything he doesn’t break he steals.

“He’s sold every phone and bike he’s ever had.

“I bought him a tablet last Christmas but he’d sold it before I had the chance to wrap it up.”

Jamie started taking the drug aged 11 to cope with his ADHD.

His grandmother said his mother, Jennifer Poulton, 33, is unable to care for him because of her own issues.

His father left when he was very young and Teresa raises him in her flat along with her other 19-month-old granddaughter.

Jamie is being supported by drug and alcohol addiction charity Addaction, but says he needs more help.

He said he became addicted to the drug after it was sold to him by some adults on the street.

Teresa said his behaviour can become wild when he is on Spice.

“Sometimes he takes all his clothes off and climbs drainpipes and lampposts,” she said.

“He smashes up my flat as well. It’s all just getting too much.

“He can be such a lovely boy but then he gets angry and takes these drugs. He is desperate for help.”

Jamie’s mother, Jennifer, said: “It’s the only thing he relies on and it’s breaking us down and tearing us apart.

“You see other legal high users killing themselves and I have nightmares that it’ll be my son in the gutter.”