KARACHI: The University of Karachi (KU) maintains zero tolerance regarding use of drugs and tobacco and it discourages consumption of such substances in any form in the academic and residential zones of the university.

This was said by the KU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi who added that the university had already implemented the Higher Education Commission-Islamabad (HEC) policy on drug and tobacco abuse in the higher educational institutions of Pakistan in letter and spirit.

He was speaking at a meeting with the Director of Research and Analysis Activities HEC-Islamabad Engineer Sulaiman Ahmad at the KU Secretariat. Prof Dr Farah Iqbal, Prof Dr Tanveer Abbas, Dr Salman Zubair and Dr Nosheen Raza were also present on this occasion.

Dr Khalid Iraqi said that the university had remove all illegal slums that had encroached on the campus land and had been found involved in selling drug substances in the city with the help of the authorities concerned.

Mr Ahmad briefed said the Senate had recently passed a resolution to implement a policy on drug and tobacco abuse at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the country, and the HEC-Islamabad had decided to send monitoring teams to universities for the implementation of the policy.

He observed that a thorough monitoring visit will not only provide valuable insights into the current state of policy implementation but also help in fostering a culture of responsibility, transparency, and continuous improvement in higher education institutions.

He further said that a support mechanism will be required to fully implement that policy and that the parents of students would play a key role in this regard.

Quoting a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report, he shared that Pakistan had seven million drug users and every one of three drug users was a woman.

Mr Ahmad added that the HEC-Islamabad had initiated a toll-free National Youth Helpline Desk to discuss such problems of the youth.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2024