Pubdate: Sat, 29 Dec 2001 Source: Huntsville Times (AL) Copyright: 2001 The Huntsville Times Contact: http://www.htimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/730 Bookmarks: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) A FLAWED EFFORT A Mobile County Program To Test Teens Is Another Blind Alley In The Drug War Good intentions don't necessarily provide reliable solutions to complex problems. Case in point: a drug-testing program in Mobile County. The head of the county's health department has worked out a deal with the court system's laboratory; that lab already monitors some 47,000 people convicted of drug use and other offenses. For $5, beginning Jan. 2, you can take your teen-ager to the lab to be tested for drug use if you so desire. Sounds like a good idea until you stop to think about it. If you have no reason to suspect your child of drug use, why would you subject him or her to a test? If you have evidence of drug use, your child should be in a counseling program. Depending on the severity of the problem, that counseling may include periodic testing. Furthermore, Alabama's public health agencies have been woefully underfunded and overextended since their inception. Too much work remains in fighting communicable diseases. The Mobile program doesn't speak to increased public health treatment of young people identified as drug users. By using the court system program for the testing, the public health agency has formed a questionable alliance. Are kids going to be arrested or treated if they test positive for drugs? If they are to be treated at public expense, who pays for it? Or do you want your child in the court system for smoking pot? The Mobile program is, its founders say, the first of its kind in the country. That may be because other cities and counties have decided that it's another blind alley in the drug war. It's certainly not something that Madison County, with a health department beset by lack of money and adequate facilities, would want to adopt. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake