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Random drug tests spot kids headed for trouble
JOHN P. WALTERS | JS Online | April 29, 2006

This month, the federal government released some encouraging news regarding the safety and health of young people in America.

The most comprehensive national survey on drug use reports that there has been a dramatic decline in the number of young people using drugs in the United States.

There are now 700,000 fewer young people using drugs today than just four years ago - a 20% decline in the number of high school students abusing dangerous, addictive drugs.

This is good news for the countless parents, teachers and educators who have worked hard to keep drugs away from children.

These declines also prove an essential point: We are not powerless against the drug problem in America.

Our challenge now is to find new, effective ways to make even more progress against illegal drugs.

Last week, the Office of National Drug Control Policy brought experts, parents and school administrators to Milwaukee to discuss how confidential random drug testing of students can become part of existing drug abuse prevention efforts in Wisconsin schools.

Despite recent declines, too many young people are still risking their lives and futures by using drugs.

Today, more than half of Milwaukee high school students have used marijuana, a drug that is now twice as potent as it was in the mid-'80s and the leading source of addiction for teenagers.

Surveys also indicate that students with an average grade of D or below were more than four times as likely to have used marijuana in the past year.

Why should school administrators consider random drug testing?

Random drug testing programs deter drug use and are effective.

By randomly testing students, we give them a powerful way to resist peer pressure and provide them with an excuse to say "no" when offered drugs.

And they do. After Hunterdon Central High School in New Jersey began a random testing program, administrators saw a decrease in drug use in 20 out of 28 categories.

Already, nearly 400 schools across the nation have received $10 million in federal funding to implement random drug testing programs.

Random testing also helps parents protect their children. Testing programs supplement - and do not supplant - other important prevention and treatment efforts in homes, schools and communities.

We know that parents are still the most powerful influence on their kids when it comes to drugs.

Research shows that the rate of past-month marijuana use is lower among kids who believed their parents would disapprove.

Unfortunately, the nature of illegal drug use is that it occurs in secret and when young people are unsupervised.

Testing provides daylight to discover drug problems early and before it may be too late.

Critics of testing, which often include groups that lobby for the legalization of drugs, often argue that random drug testing is a violation of privacy.

However, in 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that random drug testing programs are not a violation of the Fourth Amendment.

By law, the results of random student drug tests must be confidential and do not become part of school record. Also, students who test positively for drug use cannot be referred to law enforcement authorities.

A positive drug test helps identify a child who is at risk.

Many schools already require tuberculosis tests and urine tests as part of comprehensive physical exams for athletes participating in extracurricular sports.

These measures are accepted for what they are: reasonable and appropriate public health screening tests that contribute to the health and safety of our children.

Random drug testing programs serve the same goal.

We already test to protect our children against communicable diseases; common sense tells us we should also protect students from the disease of addiction as well.

Drug use should not be considered a rite of passage.

Looking the other way when it comes to drugs means being in denial about a problem that can be confronted and prevented before it causes more harm.

Screening young people for drug use is not only good public health policy, but it also sends a strong message that all young people need to hear: We love you, and we don't want to lose you.

John P. Walters is director of National Drug Control Policy for the Bush administration.

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Carl Sagan Goodness Richard Dawkins Goodness

 

Buzzby

Screening young people for drug use is not only questionable public health policy, but it also sends a strong message that all young people need to hear: We don't trust you, and we don't want to let you make up your own minds.

Since relatively harmless marijuana remains detectable for up to a month and much more harmful drugs clear the system much faster, random drug testing encourages teenagers to jump into the drugs that are less likely to get them caught.

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