Pubdate: Sat, 11 Oct 2003 Source: Boston Globe (MA) Copyright: 2003 Globe Newspaper Company Contact: http://www.boston.com/globe/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52 A PHONY FIX Boston's heroin epidemic will not be solved by random drug testing in the public schools. The proposal, touted at a meeting this week of New England governors, would divert money and energy that is far better directed at education, massive drug treatment, and targeted police enforcement. Despite the new rage for the idea in Washington, the White House drug czar, John Walters, got it wrong when he said drug testing could be "the silver bullet" in addressing heroin abuse. The Bush administration is hosting a summit on Oct. 30 to promote student drug testing, and the Supreme Court ruled last year that testing athletes and members of extracurricular clubs does not violate students' constitutional rights. But research on the efficacy of drug testing in schools is extremely thin. The most recent report, published in the Journal of School Health in April and supported by a grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, found that "drug testing of any kind, including for cause or suspicion, was not a significant predictor for marijuana or other illicit drug use in any of the samples" in more than 600 schools it surveyed. The report also said a standard urine test to detect the presence of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and barbiturates costs between $14 and $40 per sample, which might explain why drug tests are being conducted in a relatively small number of schools. Interestingly, two former Drug Enforcement Agency chiefs from the Ford and Reagan administrations, Robert DuPont and Peter Besinger, have teamed up to form a drug testing company that contracts with private employers. At the governors' meeting, Governor Romney said he had not yet decided on drug testing in Massachusetts schools. He should not let his head be turned by Washington officials promoting this nonsolution. Romney also vowed to bolster the drug treatment and education programs that have been decimated by state budget cuts over the last two years. He could start in Framingham, where the only detox center in the Metro West area shut down in June because of state budget cuts, or in Quincy or Boston, where other longtime programs have been shuttered. Obtusely, the Massachusetts Legislature voted to cut funding for methadone programs last spring. "Heroin is the one illicit drug for which we have excellent treatment, and yet we don't use it," said David Rosenbloom, director of Join Together, a drug abuse program at Boston University. The drug problem in Massachusetts is real. Large supplies of cheap heroin are flooding into Boston and other cities, creating a new generation of addicts, tearing apart families, and destroying lives. Quick-fix schemes to test all school students for drugs are an insulting substitute for effective action. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman