Pakistan’s educational institutions are facing a growing public health and child protection crisis due to increasing drug use among students. The Pakistan Narcotics Control Board (PNCB) estimates that nearly 44% of college and university students have used illicit substances. With nearly two-thirds of the population under 30, this trend poses a serious threat to the country’s future development and stability.
The crisis is driven by structural and systemic factors including academic pressure, poverty, lack of recreational outlets, and insufficient student counseling. Contributing to the problem are easy drug access near schools, unregulated online content promoting substance use, and the lack of a coordinated prevention strategy. Children from low-income families are particularly at risk, either turning to drugs to escape stress or being exploited by traffickers.
Addressing this multidimensional issue requires a collaborative response involving parents, teachers, educational institutions, human rights bodies, and society at large.
Click here for the full Policy Brief: Preventing Drug Use in Educational Institutions: A Child Rights-Based Framework for Pakistan
