Greenbud

Secret drugs tests to catch school addicts
Independent.co.uk | By Sophie Goodchild and Andrew Johnson | 20 June 2004


Headteachers and employers are turning to "secret" two-minute drugs tests that can detect traces of cocaine or ecstasy on desks and keyboards.

The manufacturers of Drugwipe say their products are as simple as pregnancy testing kits and are used in 30 schools and 60 businesses, including Stagecoach, the UK's largest bus operator.

Other drugs tests require a urine sample which has to be analysed by a doctor. But Drugwipe, which sells for around £5, has a fleece strip that detects minuscule amounts of drugs in human sweat or on any shiny surface. If the test is positive, a red line shows up on a pen-like probe.

There are increasing concerns over workplace drugs testing. Last month, pharmacies started selling a £12 testing kit able to detect the presence of cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana and amphetamines in urine. A report carried out by the TUC last year revealed that unregulated drink and drugs testing at work had doubled over the past decade, with one company in eight testing staff for drugs.

The manufacturers say the Drugwipe tests are a responsible approach to the growing problem of drug abuse. But they are controversial because they can be used without the knowledge of the child or employee.

Civil liberties groups say the test is flawed because it cannot reveal how traces of drugs came to be left. Barry Hugill, a spokesman for Liberty, said schools should ensure children receive drugs education and not spend their resources on testing kits.

"We are in danger of creating a culture of assuming guilt until proven otherwise," he said.

D.Tec International, which markets Drugwipe in the UK, said that increased demand for the product reflected a more responsible attitude towards drug abuse by schools and businesses.

Stagecoach said anyone joining the company goes through drug screening and that tests are carried out on a random basis with the consent of its workers.

"Even if the test came back positive, we wouldn't necessarily jump," said a spokesman. "If someone voluntarily approaches us and says 'I have a drug and alcohol problem', we would do anything to help them."

At present, Drugwipes are used only in private schools in this country. Leading state school heads at a conference last week were sceptical about adopting the practice.

Anne Welsh, president of the Secondary Heads Association (SHA), from George Stephenson High School in Newcastle, said: "I would not use it. I would call the police if I felt there was an issue of drug taking or dealing. I would not take it upon myself to test children."

Gareth Matthewson, a former president of the National Association of Head Teachers, who runs Whitchurch High School in Cardiff, said: "The people round this table would not use it, but it would be up to individual schools and headteachers to decide. With sweat and saliva you would need the permission of the pupil, and the parent with younger pupils. That would damage teacher-parent relations."

Additional reporting by Zachary Mesenbourg

HOW IT WORKS

Ean Lewin from D.Tec, the firm selling the Drugwipes, showed how the kits work.

The foil-wrapped kits were no bigger than a chocolate bar and labelled "cannabis", "cocaine", "amphetamines" (ecstasy) and "opiates" (heroin) respectively. Mr Lewin tested a trace of dexamphetamine on his finger.

In the top part of the kit was a tiny 5mm-square white pad. When the pad was moistened with water and shaken, it could pick up traces of the drug from his body.

A receptor, specific to the molecule of the drug, set off a reaction to change the colour of the tell-tale reagent strip. One coloured line in the window meant the test had worked; two lines meant drugs had been found.

Andrew Rosthorn

__________________
"I believe in the near future, the government will use anti-drug hysteria to set up a police state."
-author William S. Burroughs, 1947

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