UK universities urged to end zero tolerance for drugs and focus on harm reduction

UK universities are being urged to move away from a zero-tolerance policy on drug use and instead focus on public health and harm reduction, with drug testing and unbiased support for students seeking help.

The warning came after new research showed that students are less likely to use drugs than their peers in the general population. Of the minority who do, more than two in five would like to reduce their use.

Experts worry that the zero-tolerance policies still in place on some campuses, involving fines, suspensions and expulsions, do little to curb drug use and could discourage students from seeking help.

Nearly one in five (18%) of the 4,000 students who took part in a survey for Universities UK (UUK), the organisation representing 142 higher education institutions, told researchers they had used drugs in the past, while one in eight (12%) had used drugs in the past year.

Of those who had ever used drugs, the most commonly used substances in the past year were cannabis (53%), cocaine (8%), prescription drugs (7%), ketamine (6%) and ecstasy (4%).

According to the Office for National Statistics, almost 18% of 16- to 24-year-olds in England and Wales reported having used drugs with non-students in the year to March 2023. In Scotland, 23.5% of the same age group had used drugs in the year before the survey.

According to UUK, only one in five students who have used drugs in the past 12 months have sought support from their institution. Of those who did seek support, almost half (46%) said their university’s drug policy was a barrier, while over a third (37%) feared the consequences of coming forward.

Jeni Larmour, 18, from Newtownhamilton in Northern Ireland, died on her first day at Newcastle University in October 2020 after consuming a lethal combination of alcohol and ketamine given to her “by another person”, a coroner said.

Her mother, Sandra Larmour, welcomed the report, saying her own views on drug policy had changed. Where she might once have been a proponent of zero tolerance, she now favors educating and supporting students, although she said universities should never tolerate drug use.

“If you tell a group of teenagers, ‘Don’t do something,’ you’re going nowhere. Anyone who has kids knows that — they’re going to do it anyway,” Larmour said.

“But if you do something in an open and informed way, it can only help. If you have people with insight, knowledge and professional experience who can guide them through this, and they feel they can come forward, that is a very positive step.”

The charity SafeCourse, which was set up to promote harm reduction policies on British campuses, welcomed UUK’s new framework for action. Its founder, Hilton Mervis, whose son Daniel died of an accidental overdose, said a zero-tolerance approach may have discouraged him from seeking help for fear of deportation.

“Drugs have left a hole in my family’s life because Daniel was let down by the zero tolerance policy,” he said, adding that the university now has “clear harm reduction policies that put the safety and wellbeing of their students first.

“Yet many universities continue to declare zero tolerance for drugs. In practice, this means zero action. This puts students at risk. It is time for universities to adopt active, student-led harm reduction approaches.”

The UUK report, Enabling student health and success: tackling supply and demand for drugs and improving harm reduction, published on Tuesday, also calls on universities to promote and inform students about drug-checking services. “Students are often unaware of the content and strength of illicit drugs at the time of purchase,” it says.

“The consequences of this can be fatal. Drugchecking offers an independent service that encourages students to have all substances of concern tested by chemists, and to discuss the results in a consultation with a health professional.”

It is also proposed to introduce a sliding scale of warnings of increasing severity for repeated incidents within an agreed time frame, to avoid a university being seen as permissive towards drug use.

Larmour urged parents of children who are preparing to leave for college in the fall to talk to their child. “Make sure you’re open and honest with them.” For youngsters who are about to leave home, she said, “Be aware of your surroundings. Be aware of who your friends are. Think before you act.

“I miss Jeni every day of my life. I think about her all the time. Everything I do, I do for one reason. That’s to keep her name alive, to keep her name on people’s lips, to keep her memory alive.”