Pubdate: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 Source: Salisbury Post (NC) Copyright: 2004 Post Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.salisburypost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/380 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) DRUG-TEST QUESTIONS If the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education is going to consider adopting a student drug-testing program, it needs answers to a couple of questions. One is whether such programs, which have gained at least limited approval in recent court rulings, are effective in reducing drug and alcohol use among students. That question has provoked a great deal of debate -- and not a lot of hard data. The only nationwide study to date, the 2003 University of Michigan Drug Testing study, found little difference between illicit drug use among schools that did and did not require random testing. Advocates of student drug testing, however, have criticized the study's methodology and pointed instead to smaller-scale surveys that have found anecdotal evidence that testing can significantly discourage drug use. Testing proponents include the Office of National Drug Control Policy and President Bush, who proposed in his State of the Union address to add $23 million to a competitive grant program that supports student drug testing in schools. This is an area where the president's oft-stated preference for "science-based" solutions to problems would be especially useful, since both sides of the testing debate can can point to conflicting studies that don't, in the end, resolve anything. Implementing a testing program requires money as well as manpower. It shouldn't be done on a "can't-hurt, might-help" basis. But even if there were conclusive evidence that random tests deter drug use among students, that would still leave another question: Do a majority of parents in Rowan County want this for their children? Do they want schools to take on a primary role in drug interdiction as well as education? Are they willing to put aside concerns about privacy and individual rights to embrace random drug testing -- and, if so, on what scale? Should testing be limited to athletes or others involved in extracurricular activities -- which the Supreme Court has held does not violate Fourth Amendment restrictions on illegal searches? Or, to be fair as well as effective, should it be expanded to cover all students -- even though such broad implementation almost certainly would bring a court challenge? Rowan County residents, like most other Americans, would agree that drug and alcohol use among young people is a daunting problem. The issue gained a much higher profile here recently, when a survey showed that two-thirds of high school students believe drugs are a problem at school and a third of middle-school students report having consumed alcohol in the past 30 days. Those are stunning statistics. But this isn't primarily a school or youth problem -- it's a communitywide, adult-driven problem. Combatting it requires a multipronged effort involving education, intervention, treatment, policing and parenting. Some communities will decide that student testing should be a part of their strategy. Others will decide their resources are better used elsewhere. The school board wants to gather more information before it moves any further with testing talk here. Unless that information proves far more convincing than what's surfaced thus far, the board should say no to testing and look for other ways to help drive down drug use. - --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/part1943.html - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake