Opinion essay

Opinion essay by Joannemarie Estelle Liew (18434)
Title: Drug-dealing Between University Students

          How many of us have heard of or even witnessed drug-dealing activities being done by the students inside the university campus? Statistics showed that 65% of those involved in drug-dealing activities are aged between 17 to 24 years old, specifically most of them are university students. Drug-dealing has become a very serious issue and legal actions must be made by both the government and also the university in order to overcome this problem.

          First of all, the government must direct attention towards what is happening in the universities as well instead of just focusing on primary and secondary level schools. The government's effort to raise awareness about drug-dealing should not be restricted to primary and secondary level schools only, but instead expand it to include the university students as well. For example, one form of effort that the government can do is to organize an awareness campaigns about drug-dealing within the university campus, whereby lots of beneficial activities such as talks can be conducted in order to raise awareness amongst the university students. Another effort suggested is that the government can encourage the university or the students there to form an anti-drug club or organize any events related to the mentioned issue by giving funds to them.

          Besides that, the university should reinforce the disciplinary rules in the campus grounds. By doing so, it will limit the students' freedom to do anything as they please. What can be done is that the university should perform sudden spot-checks in the students' hotels at a regular basis. If any drugs or illegal items are to be found, a strict punishment must be sentenced towards the offenders. Although this effort might seem bothersome not only to the university but as well as to the students, but this could be the first step in assuring the safety of the students within the campus grounds, and also to overcome drug-dealing problems in the university.

          Other than that, the university must also increase the security system in the university campus. This can be done by installing CCTVs and to have the security guards to patrol around the campus all the time, especially during night time. These steps will make sure that the university grounds are under constant watch, the students who are involved in drug-dealing might think twice before they attempt to do anything suspicious. Not only that, another thing the university can do is to enforce the rules regarding outside visitors. The security guards in charge should check the visitors' identification cards and their vehicles before letting them through into the campus. Only by enforcing such strict rules that drug-dealing between university students can be overcomed.

          To sum it all up, actions must be taken by both authorities to prevent this issue from getting worst. This is not only to decrease the crime rate, but also to ensure the well-being of the university students.