Figures show over the past five years in Britain, more than 5,500 babies have been born hooked on the drugs because of their mother's own addictions.
Statistics from the Department of Health show that all of the newborn babies were showing "neonatal withdrawal symptoms" within the first few hours of drawing breath, the 'Daily Mail' reported.
This can see the babies - who need specialist care to cope with fever, severe vomiting and diarrhea and are so addicted they fit within the first few hours of life - given opiates to "ween them off" heroin.
The figures, revealed by Conservative MP for Enfield North Nick de Bois, show the highest rate of addicted baby births is in the North West Strategic Health Authority, which covers Liverpool and Manchester.
"We have got to be handing out proper sentences to drug dealers and put the fear of God into them. Otherwise we will forever have this cycle of addicts," he said.
"The scale of the problem has been a constant figure for five years so this 'war on drugs' is a nonsense. And either way we are not going to declare war on young mothers with babies. Not all drug addicts are criminals," he said.
The Liberal Democrat leader threw his weight behind a controversial report by MPs which suggested decriminalising the possession of small quantities of drugs, the report said.
Critics, however, have warned that watering down drugs laws could see more young people becoming hooked.
