Universities should be focusing on a harm-reduction approach to drug use among students rather than a ‘zero tolerance’ attitude, according to a report from Universities UK (UUK), a collective of more than 140 universities.
More than 4,000 students were surveyed by UUK’s drugs taskforce, which was convened in 2022 to ‘build a stronger evidence base to help universities understand and address student drug use’. Twelve per cent reported having taken a drug in the last year – ‘less than might have been expected from a stereotyped perception of students’, the document states. Of these, however, almost half said that they wanted to reduce their use.
Almost one in five of respondents reported lifetime drug use, with the most commonly used substances in the previous twelve months including cannabis (53 per cent), cocaine (8 per cent), ketamine (6 per cent) and ecstasy (4 per cent). While some universities adopt a zero-tolerance approach characterised by a focus on enforcement action for anyone caught using or possessing drugs, this often deterred students from coming forward for help, the report found. It also had no impact on the prevalence of drug use.
Just one in five of the students who’d used drugs in the previous year had ever asked for support from their university, with almost half stating that the university’s drug policy was a barrier to seeking help and 37 per cent reporting that they ‘feared the consequences’ of coming forward. ‘Students who attempted to address their drug use most often did so independently, for example by avoiding friends and peers who frequently use drugs,’ the document states.
Universities should be acting according to best evidence and gathering robust data, concludes the task force, which is supported by Professor Dame Carol Black, Dr Ed Day and Professor Owen Bowden-Jones as special advisors. They should also work in close partnership with health and care services, empower staff to understand and respond to concerns around drug use – through effective training, support, and reporting mechanisms – and make sure students play a central role in their institution’s approach to drugs.
‘As educators, our priority is to see students succeed and we know that drug use can work against this, impacting students’ health, wellbeing, education, and future careers,’ said taskforce chair and vice chancellor of the University of Salford, Professor Nic Beech. ‘Around one in eight of those we surveyed said they had used drugs in the past twelve months, and almost half of those wanted to reduce their use – but the evidence also shows fear can be a big deterrent in students seeking help to change their drug behaviour. Universities need to take a proactive role in showing students the risks of using drugs, but also in providing support to both users and non-users.’
Enabling student health and success: tackling supply and demand for drugs and improving harm reduction available here