Colleges told to hold probe into drug use on campus

The Madras high court has directed the state to provide details of the number of pubs operated in the state, frequency of raids conducted in such pubs to prevent minors from consuming liquor, the number cases registered so far and number of hookah parlours in the state and also directed the DGP to issue circulars to educational institutions.

Justice N Kirubakaran while hearing a plea seeking to ban use and sale of tobacco products in public places and vicinity of educational institutions in the state, said, “In spite of directions given by this court, no information is available as to how many educational institutions have been raided to find out whether ganja or other prohibited contraband items are consumed or used by the students in the educational institutions.” Citing the case of the elite IIT Kanpur battling a serious drug problem, the judge said “When such is the position of the premier educational institutions like IIT, the position of the educational institutions in Tamil Nadu, especially in Chennai has to be looked into.”