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.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman