Alarming trends of online drug selling in educational institutions

Ishaq Khan

PESHAWAR: “I am aware of it that the use of drugs will leave some scars on my health but it’s becoming difficult for me to concentrate on the studies without using these stuffs”, says M Ajmal, a final year student of MA English.

M Ajmal (changed name) told The Frontier Post that it all started in a fun way as it was all new for me after shifting to Peshawar from district Buner for studies.

“I couldn’t handle the independence as none of my family members were there to show me the right way and slapped me after I joined the wrong gathering” he said with an embarrassing smile on his face.

“Only a phone call or Whatsapp message is enough to get drugs (Hashish, Ice) and it’s quite easy now as plenty of drug suppliers are there to deliver at your doorstep what you want”, he revealed.

While sharing his story, Ajmal told that in 2018 some of my friends were using Ice and hashish, they were studying, playing without getting sleep in two or three days which was very surprising for me as how it is possible for a human to stay active without sleep, so I started using it but fortunately my roommates threatened me to leave it or they will inform my family about my wrong activities, in fact one of them was always with me to keep close eye on me.

He further added that those were the hard days of my life to get rid of these drugs but my roommates helped me a lot and I will not repay them. Yes I was able to get rid of Ice but still struggling to leave the addiction of hashish (chars), he said.

Aurangzeb Khan, a retired government officer whose two sons are studying in university, expressed his worries after he found out that his elder son was consuming chars (Hashish) with his university friends.

“It was very surprising and hard for us to believe that my son was involved in such activities as he was very allergic to all these things and now he is consuming drugs”, Aurangzeb lamented.

As a father, it was so disturbing news because we had a plan for our children and if he was wasting time and health in such activities what will be his future? he shared his thoughts.

“After questioning and pressuring my son, he told us that they were ordering chats on WhatsApp and the drug peddler delivered them easily within the university premises without any trouble in a hour or two”, he said.

He further said, then we kept close eye on our son and made sure to keep him away from such activities and focusing on his study for which he was admitted in university but it is very hard for any parent to follow the young children with the aim to maintain the decency if all these banned drugs were available easily in educational institutions.

“I believe that my son left his wrong path of consuming drugs and now focusing on his studies but the thoughts of his return to such activities will never leave my mind”, he said.

Aurangzeb said that educational institutions were meant to be producing good citizens and professionals, but if such banned drugs were easily available than one can imagine that what will be the future of our children and our society, it is the responsibility of government to provide drug free environment and make sure the arrest of this elements which were poisoning our children.

But the parents also need to play their role in this regard and regularly check their mobiles and other devices because there are many easy ways that their children might trap and could destroy their lives, he suggested.

Police shared the details that in the first nine months of 2022, police recovered over 903.645 kilograms of ice, 1279.431 kilograms of heroin, 18841.834 kilograms of hashish, 1381.3 kilograms opium and 12883.52 litres of liquor in the operations of Narcotics Eradication teams in conducted in different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.


Similarly, the Campus Police Station of University of Peshawar confirmed that a total 19 First Information Reports (FIR) related to drug selling were registered last year including 17 of Chars (hashish), one ice and one liquor case.

While contacting the Chief Capital Police Officer (CCPO) Muhammad Ijaz Khan, he claimed that the operations against the drug dealers are going on by the regular police and Narcotics Eradication teams in different parts of the city.

CCPO added that the officers have been directed to intensify crackdown against the drug dealers, especially those involved in poisoning our youth for selling drugs in the vicinity of education institutions.

Another official said that apart from taking action against the drug dealers, awareness is being created among the students, parents and teachers through seminars in colleges and universities while previously elders and religious scholars were also involved to create awareness against the drugs.

Muhammad Nauman, Public Relation Officer (PRO) of University of Peshawar, told The Frontier Post that in 2005 the Peshawar University was declared a tobacco-free university and the sale of cigarettes, Naswar was banned within the premises of the varsity, all the shops and canteens were directed to stay away from the sale of tobacco items otherwise their shops will be sealed and action would be taken against them according to the rules.

Nauman claimed that the administration, Campus police and Provost strictly monitor the varsity and no one would be allowed to smoke openly in the premises of this historical education institution.

The administration is making all out efforts to make the university free from drugs and root out the evils from educational institutes, and to provide a conducive environment to students in hostels, departments with the aim to keep them on the positive path, he said.

He informed that we arranged awareness seminars on different occasions with the coordination of Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) to create awareness among the students about drug prevention, and its negative impacts on the health of human beings.

Regarding the online sale of online drugs, he said that we are monitoring the situation with the help of CCTV cameras, campus police and our proctors, to make sure that the drug peddlers could not reach our youth, and we succeeded in it to the maximum extent.

“Everyone including (Students, Teachers, Police and Administration) should be on the same page to save our generations from the menace of drugs”, Nauman suggested.