Karolinska Institutet, as an employer and university, strives to have an alcohol- and drug-free work and study environment, which is a prerequisite for safe and secure activities. You can read the guidelines for alcohol and drugs in full Karolinska Institutet's guidelines for handling employees' and students' alcohol and drug issues (in Swedish).

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Summary of KI's position

KI distances itself from all illegal and unauthorized handling and use of drugs and doping-classified drugs.
Consumption of alcohol during working hours and during leisure time that has consequences at work or studies is not accepted.
We care by paying attention and talking about the complexity and moral dilemma of using alcohol and drugs.
Everyone who works at KI has a personal responsibility to be a good colleague/fellow student and act in case of suspicion of any kind of addiction problem.
The attitude should be "To care about by getting involved"!
KI must work preventively with risk and substance abuse issues to contribute to interventions at an early stage through social assistance for employees and students
with substance abuse problems. Employees turn to occupational health and students turn to student health.
KI shall ensure that employees in managerial positions, personnel representatives, safety representatives and student safety representatives, etc., are trained
in the area in an adequate manner.
KI must ensure confidentiality in accordance with legal requirements in all cases.

Responsibility

According to the Work Environment Act, the employer has the main responsibility to ensure that the work with risk and substance abuse is managed in a systematic way, both preventive and remedial. At KI, this takes place in accordance with the Decision-making procedures and delegation rules for Karolinska Institutet and Delegating
roles and tasks in a department or the equivalent. This means that managers/leaders at all levels have a responsibility to take measures to handle situations where employees or students are affected by alcohol or drugs. The measures must be taken as early as possible.

Employees and students also have obligations under the Work Environment Act. The Work Environment Act states that employees and students must participate in the work environment management and participate in the implementation of the measures needed to achieve a good work environment.

Suspicion of Addiction - What Can You Do?

If you find out or suspect that a student is abusing alcohol or other drugs, it is extremely important that you talk to the student about your concerns and show that you care. Encourage the student to seek help and offer to accompany in support at a first contact. You can contact The Student Health Centre together, who can give advice and/or refer the student to the appropriate body.

A student who wants to be anonymous when he/she reports to the course teacher/program director that he/she suspects that a fellow student is using alcohol or drugs must inform the course teacher/program director about it.

The course teacher/program director who talks to the student who is suspected of using alcohol or drugs must talk about specifics that he/she knows about regarding the student's study situation, symptoms, and signs of abuse. It is important that the person who talks to the student urges the student to seek help as soon as possible, preferably from the Student Health Centre, that can give advice and refer to the appropriate body. The person who talks to the student must document the conversation and agree with the student on a follow-up call within a week.