A leading London-based commercial litigation partner has welcomed the positive response from universities as he seeks to transform their approach to tackling drug use among students following the death of his son from an accidental overdose.
Hilton Mervis, head of dispute resolution for Europe at Arnold & Porter, has been campaigning for universities to abandon a zero-tolerance approach to drug use in favour of harm reduction policies which underline the confidential support available to students suffering from addiction issues.
He founded the charity SafeCourse in memory of his son Daniel, who was a student at St John’s College Oxford when he became addicted to cocaine, and died in 2019 after cutting short his studies there to concentrate on his recovery. The charity sets out to tackle the stigma around drug use and addiction and raise awareness of the risks associated with drug taking.
In June, SafeCourse, whose trustees include High Court judge Sir Robin Knowles CBE, published a legal opinion on the risks associated with zero-tolerance policies, which was written by Brick Court Chambers’ Victoria Wakefield KC and Tim Johnston on a pro bono basis.
The opinion cites the inquest into Daniel’s death, which saw the coroner issue a Report to Prevent Future Deaths warning that St John’s stated zero-tolerance policy, since dropped in consultation with Mervis, might have discouraged students from seeking help “out of fear of the consequences, either legal or disciplinary”.
The opinion also highlights the final report of Universities UK’s Drugs Task Force, which last year recommended that institutions adopt a harm reduction approach, and argues that if a duty of care were to be established “a zero-tolerance policy is likely to lead to policy incoherence, increasing legal risk for the universities”.
Mervis commented: “When I wrote personally on behalf of SafeCourse to every single vice chancellor in the country to share the legal advice and Daniel’s story the response has so far been 100% positive.
“Harm reduction policies do not condone drug use but focus on awareness and non-judgemental support. SafeCourse as a charity exists to empower students and universities to change the narrative – so drug use is not normalised and it is not OK to give a ‘day pass’ to the cruelty and suffering behind the drug supply chain and the devastation it can cause to the lives of students.”
SafeCourse has been encouraged by the results of a recent survey of 144 UK universities via freedom of information requests, which drew responses from 117 institutions.
Its findings, published in June, showed that 13% of universities maintain a zero-tolerance approach, compared to 34% which have adopted harm reduction policies and 33% which are developing them.
Some 45% of universities provide structured drug education programmes, 21% are developing programmes and 14% offer none.
SafeCourse has pledged to track whether policies “‘in development’ materialise into tangible protections” while continuing to raise awareness of the issues around student drug use and addiction, including through a national student media competition.
Mervis said: “Perhaps the greatest harm caused by zero tolerance has been the failure to have an open and informed conversation about drugs and involve and empower students, which is surely the necessary starting point to develop the best ways to tackle the issue.”
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