Pubdate: Thu, 22 Sep 2005
Source: Metrowest Daily News (MA)
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Copyright: 2005 MetroWest Daily News
Author: Charlie Breitrose
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

DRUG TESTING STUDENTS RAISES HOPE, ALARM

BOSTON -- Proponents of drug testing high school students say it will 
deter those who fear being caught, but opponents say the practice is 
an invasion of privacy and does not address the reasons young people 
take drugs.

In some states drug testing policies, especially for students on 
athletic teams, is common. In the Bay State many schools do not have 
such policies, and the courts have not ruled on their constitutionality.

Framingham High School Vice Principal Frank Rothwell was among the 
panelists yesterday at a drug testing forum at the Sheraton Boston 
Hotel. The roundtable talk was sponsored by Avitar Inc., a 
manufacturer of drug tests for schools and companies.

Rothwell said a handful of drug tests are given each year at 
Framingham High, but only if officials suspect someone is under the 
influence of drugs or alcohol. The school has a three-person system.

"If a teacher suspects something, they will tell me," Rothwell said. 
"I will grab the student, and if I suspect something we'll catch 
another vice principal or a nurse. Then we ask if something is wrong."

Most times, Rothwell said, he and teachers can tell students are on 
drugs or drunk by how they behave or whether their stories sound 
plausible. When there is doubt, officials bring out the test.

Many times, Rothwell said, they don't even get that far.

"Ninety-five percent of the students know it's over at that point," 
Rothwell said. "They will give up and tell us."

Calvina Fay of the Drug Free America Foundation argued that if 
students are coming to school on drugs or drunk they are not just 
starting to experiment.

"It's too late at that point," Fay said. "By the time they are bold 
enough to show up using drugs, it is already a problem."

Fay said having the threat of a random drug test deters students from 
doing drugs, and even gives them a reason to resist peer pressure.

"They can say 'no' because of the possibility that they could be 
caught," Fay said. "I've seen it work in the workplace in Houston. 
Employees admitted in a survey that they either quit or greatly 
reduced drug use because they might be tested."

Marco Cross, a junior at Framingham High, said he does not mind drug 
tests from his experience at Framingham High. The only time he has 
heard of them being used is if someone shows up obviously drunk or 
high at a dance.

"It's a good thing," Cross said. "It keeps the student body safe and 
probably prohibits the spread of drugs."

Students do drugs at Framingham High, Cross said, but it is not 
something out of control.

Sophomore Matt Caron agreed, saying he has never been offered drugs. 
He does not believe in the theory that fellow students will offer a 
free try in an attempt to get others hooked.

"The best (explanation) I have heard is that they won't offer you 
drugs because it costs them so much," Caron said.

By placing the threat of a drug test on students taking part in high 
school sports, clubs and other extracurricular activities, schools 
may be alienating the students who most need help, said Tom Angell 
from Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

"We need to welcome at-risk students into activities," Angell said. 
"We don't want them on the streets, we want them to be in after 
school-programs."

Angell argued that if teachers start giving drug tests it would 
undermine the trust students have with teachers and others at the school.

Salem is considering whether to institute a testing program. Noreen 
Gachignard, chairman of the Salem School Committee, called herself a 
"fence-sitter" on the issue of drug testing.

She started out opposed to testing, because it invades students' 
privacy. After seeing the results of programs in other states, she 
said she can see reasons for doing it. When she talked to parents, 
most were in favor.

"I am a single parent," Gachignard said. "My kid is one of the good 
ones. She is on the tennis team, she studies. People say that's the 
wrong person to test, but I need all the help I can get.

"On the other hand, it raises tension in the area of trust."

David Evans of Drug Free Schools Coalition helped design a testing 
program used in New Jersey that he said has curbed drug use. Students 
who test positive then go on to five sessions with a drug counselor 
and meet with a doctor.

This model would not be realistic in Massachusetts, said Whitney 
Taylor of Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts.

"I don't think the schools in Massachusetts, especially those in poor 
communities, could afford five days of counseling," Taylor said. 
"They can barely afford to have a school nurse."

Legally in Massachusetts no one can be forced by police to take a 
drug test, said Lt. Vincent Alfano of the Framingham Police Department.

"We can't even make someone take a Breathalyzer test (to test blood 
alcohol level)," Alfano said. "If I stopped someone driving, and I 
suspected them of driving drunk, you could refuse (to take the test)."

However, a driver automatically loses his or her license temporarily 
for that refusal.

Rothwell said he has noticed that many times drug testing targets 
some of the most at-risk people in society.

"I have been in education for 15 years and I have never been tested, 
and my wife is a successful businesswoman and she has never been 
tested," Rothwell said. "But students who are the children of 
immigrants, or are immigrants themselves, who need jobs, can't get a 
job at Wal-mart because (of their fear) of drug testing." 
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman