Pondicherry University conducts workshop for students on substance abuse and addiction

NEW DELHI: Pondicherry University's (PU) department of social work and the ministry of social justice and empowerment inaugurated a five-day training workshop as a part of their project 'towards a drug free Puducherry'.

Over 70 students from Pu and its affiliated colleges will participate in the workshop from November 1 to November 5, 2022. The aim of the workshop is to train students as peer educators to address the issues of substance abuse and addiction in their respective communities.

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The students are drawn from colleges including Pondicherry University Community College, Kasturba College for Women, Indira Gandhi College of Arts and Science, Pondicherry Technological University, and Pondicherry University among others. The student peer educators will be working int heir own respective home communities in Puducherry.

The university held sensitisation sessions on the issues in selected colleges with ‘The Role of Youth in Substance Abuse Prevention’ programme between August and October 2022. Through this five-day workshop, the students supported by the faculty will be trained to raise awareness about the harmful side effects of substance abuse and addiction, mobilize community participation for drug demand reduction and prevention of substance use in the community.

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The resource persons for the workshop include psychiatrists, psychiatric social workers, academicians, theatre artists, NGO heads and recovered substance abusers. The programme will be an activity-based training designed to train students through group discussions, debates, role- plays, case study analysis, peer counselling sessions, performance and street theatre etc.

Pondicherry University president spoke about the dangers of addiction to drugs and alcohol and the need for youth to resist the negative influence of peers and the media regarding substance use. He noted that ‘Drug-Free Puducherry is not just a goal, but it is a dream that the students must strive hard to realize.