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ALCOHOL IS MOST PERVASIVE DRUG

To the Editor:

Regarding Joe Burns' Aug.  18 story on drug testing ( "Parents can test kids with drug kits" ), parents should think twice before asking their kids to urinate on demand.  Despite a short-lived high, marijuana is the only illegal drug that stays in the human body long enough to make urinalysis a deterrent.  Marijuana's organic metabolites are fat-soluble and can linger for days.  Synthetic drugs are water-soluble and exit the body quickly.  A teenager who takes methamphetamine, OxyContin or heroin Friday night will likely test clean Monday morning.  If you think teenagers don't know this, think again.  Anyone capable of running an Internet search can find out how to thwart a drug test.  Drug testing profiteers do not readily volunteer this information, for obvious reasons.  The most commonly abused drug and the one most closely associated with violent behavior is almost impossible to detect with urinalysis.  That drug is alcohol, and it takes far more young lives each year than all illegal drugs combined.

Robert Sharpe,

MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, DC