The numbers tell a story that goes beyond a police crackdown. After testing 8,310 students across 150 colleges in Mangaluru, police found 98 who tested positive for drug use. Months later, 50 of those students were tested again. Thirty-eight now tested negative, with the students telling authorities they had stopped using drugs.For Mangaluru Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy, the result points to something less visible than arrests and seizures: what can happen when drug use among young people is treated not only as an enforcement issue, but also as a problem requiring counselling, family involvement and sustained monitoring.
From a positive test to a second chance
The police campaign began with testing students across educational institutions in the city. As per The Hindu report, of the 8,310 students screened, 98 initially tested positive. Rather than ending the intervention with the test result, the students were referred for counselling through their colleges, with parents brought into the process.The follow-up was designed to see whether that intervention had made a difference.When 50 students from the original positive group were retested, 38 returned negative results. Twelve students continued to test positive and were advised to undergo further counselling and rehabilitation, with parents and college authorities asked to maintain close monitoring.
Why counselling became central
Reddy’s approach has increasingly combined drug testing, counselling, parental involvement, college monitoring and enforcement against suppliers.Earlier in 2026, the Commissioner had said students affected by drug abuse should be treated as victims, while police action should remain uncompromising against drug peddlers. He also called for anti-drug committees in colleges and regular police interaction with educational institutions.That approach forms part of a wider “Drug-Free Mangaluru” campaign. In June, Reddy said police had arrested more than 400 drug peddlers and apprehended over 2,000 consumers during the preceding year. He also said drug-positive cases among students had fallen to around 2%, while more than 80% of colleges in the city were conducting drug tests.The latest student retests add another dimension to those figures: early identification followed by counselling may give young people a route away from substance use.
But the campaign is not over
The 38 negative results are encouraging, but the 12 students who remained positive are a reminder of how difficult drug recovery can be. Their parents and college administrations have been asked to continue counselling and closely monitor their progress.Mangaluru Police are therefore relying on a combination of prevention, random drug screening, counselling, rehabilitation, family participation and action against drug networks, rather than treating testing as the final step.For Reddy, the most significant number may not be how many students initially tested positive. It may be what happened after those results were known: 38 students who were once in that group subsequently tested negative.The Mangaluru experiment now offers a larger question for campuses elsewhere: can consistent screening, counselling and family support help prevent a drug-positive test from becoming a young person’s permanent label?