No excuse holds water for drug users

Beijing police have detained 16 students from the Beijing Midi School of Music on suspicion of drug use, after a raid on a dormitory on Tuesday, following a tipoff that marijuana was being used at the school. The school published a letter on Thursday in which it apologized for failing to properly manage students. Beijing Youth Daily urges more efforts to clean up showbiz. Undoubtedly, the Beijing Midi School of Music is responsible for its students’ lawbreaking activity, yet what is even more unacceptable is that the headmaster only advocated criticizing and educating the young drug users rather than punishing them. He should have sent a clear message to the public that the university had “zero-tolerance” to drug use and the students deserved to be punished. But it is not just the school's responsibility to keep students away from drugs. Relevant government departments are also obliged to jointly enhance the management and education of art school students, and to purify the entertainment industry, in which a variety of false values have the potential to lead the young wannabes astray.