Pubdate: Fri, 20 May 2005
Source: Patriot Ledger, The  (MA)
Copyright: 2005 The Patriot Ledger
Contact:  http://ledger.southofboston.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1619
Author: Dan DeLeo
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

KIDS REJECT SCHOOL DRUG TESTING

Some Students Support It, But Most Dislike The Lt. Gov's Plan

Zack Morrissey and Sarah Stewart know the kids who smoke marijuana, use 
cocaine and dabble in heroin.

The Quincy High School sophomores, who said they don't use drugs, say 
random drug testing at high schools, a plan proposed this week by Lt. Gov. 
Kerry Healey, goes too far and is a questionable solution to the problem. 
"It's a tough issue, but I really feel it comes down to a question of 
privacy," said Stewart, 15. "(School officials) should have the right to 
punish you if you bring drugs into school, but not to randomly test kids." 
Said Morrissey, 16, "As long as kids are sober in class, what do (school 
officials) care." Healey presented the administration's plan to members of 
the Legislature's new Committee on Mental Health and Substance abuse. The 
issue immediately sparked debate in school lunchrooms and classrooms across 
the state. In an interview yesterday, Healey said random testing would be 
done only at high schools where the program has already been adopted 
locally, and only students whose parents have signed off on the plan would 
be subjected to the tests. The intention, she said, is not to target high 
school drug users for criminal prosecution, but to get them help.

"This is not meant to be punitive, but to pick up kids early and get them 
into counseling and treatment," she said.

As superintendents come forward with interest in the plan, Healey said she 
will be ready to work with them. Both the New Bedford and Salem school 
districts are considering adopting the policy, she said.

Before anything can happen, though, the administration is counting on 
legislative approval of $9.1 million included in a supplemental budget. 
Healey said the money would help 6,000 to 8,000 drug users in need of 
rehabilitation services. It would also help attract $14.5 million in 
federal matching funds "We're not asking schools to take money out of 
education funding; it's coming out of substance abuse funding," she said.

Despite the provision for parental approval of the plan, ACLU spokesman 
Sarah Wunsch said random drug testing will certainly be challenged in court 
on constitutional grounds.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that students who participate in 
competitive extra-curricular activities can be tested, but has drawn the 
line there. The issue of other students being subjected to random tests has 
yet to be considered by the high court, Wunsch said.

Even with parental approval of the testing, the question remains: Do 
students have 4th Amendment rights - protection against illegal searches - 
that are independent of their parents' wishes?

Wunsch said that issue remains to be resolved. "You can't invoke a national 
drug problem as justification for this," she said. In a ruling that could 
offer guidance, she said, the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled that 
Boston police officers could not be randomly tested for drugs. "I think 
that tells us something about what the SJC would say about random drug 
testing of kids," Wunsch said. "Any school system that says this is a great 
thing to do will be facing a lawsuit and is taking its chances." Still, not 
all students oppose the administration's plan. Bill Wilkinson, a Quincy 
High senior, said his contemporary issues class debated the topic this 
week. He was one of several students in the minority who support Healey's 
proposal.

"Everyone deserves constitutional rights," he said, "but teenagers don't 
know what's good for them. I know a lot of kids who use drugs, but not a 
lot who go to counseling."
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman