University panel mulls seminars against drug use
A new panel set up in the wake of a spate of lawlessness at Greek universities, chiefly to curb the widespread use of drugs on campuses, convened on Tuesday, with members proposing the use of volunteers and instructive seminars.
The idea of educating students about drug use was well-received but the proposal of seminars for drug addicts was a contentious one. Some academics noted that it is generally not students who use drugs on campuses but others who take advantage of the asylum law prohibiting police from entering university grounds.
As regards the growing number of sit-ins at university buildings, panel members said authorities should take different approaches depending on whether the squatters are students or self-styled anarchists. In the case of long-running sit-ins, the panel proposed that authorities take legal action.
Last month Education Minister Costas Gavroglou set up the committee which is led by former justice minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos, an honorary law professor at Thessaloniki’s Aristotle University, and includes academics as well as representatives of the judiciary and police force.
The aim of the panel is to “study issues relating to academic freedom, peace and lawlessness on university grounds” and to draft proposals for the government regarding how to curb crime on campuses while protecting academic freedom in line with the university asylum law.
