Pubdate: Mon, 23 May 2005 Source: Salem News (MA) Copyright: 2005 Essex County Newspapers Contact: http://www.salemnews.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3466 Author: Colin Steele Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) OFFICIALS, STUDENTS JUST SAY NO TO DRUG TESTING A state plan to fund drug tests for students in public schools is a bad idea, Cape Ann educators and students said. Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey announced last week the state will give schools $100,000 to voluntarily test students for drug use. Local reaction to the plan has been mostly negative, with some questioning the effectiveness of drug testing and others wanting more specifics on how it will work. "It's a waste of time," said Joseph Sullivan, principal of Gloucester High School. "It's an absolute waste of time. You are showing total disregard for all students in the school by doing it. ... Basically, what you're telling kids by drug-testing them is they're a problem to be managed. And they're not a problem to be managed. They're a resource to be developed." Paul Murphy, assistant principal at Manchester Essex Regional High School, said the plan raises many questions: How would schools decide which students to test? How often would testing occur? And what would a positive test mean for a student? "There's so much gray area that I think (Healey) needs to be a lot more specific," Murphy said. "This kind of reeks of political posturing." Gloucester police go to a school about once every two weeks for a drug-related call, said Lt. Michael Lane, the department's head detective. Most of the reports come from the high school, but police also respond to O'Maley Middle School. "It's an occasional problem that comes to light," O'Maley Principal Kevin Hutchinson said. Nearly all drug-related calls from the schools involve marijuana, and most students are caught with marijuana cigarettes or quarter-ounce bags they plan to sell to classmates, Lane said. "The amounts of drugs seized are not substantial, but the schools have a zero-tolerance policy, and rightly so, and they want a police presence there," he said. Marijuana use became a major issue at Manchester Essex last school year when there were several on-campus arrests for marijuana possession. This year there has been only one drug arrest at the school, in November. It sends a message to students when the school involves police in such incidents, Murphy said. "Kids witness their peers, other students, being taken out in handcuffs," Murphy said. "They say, 'Whoa, they're really serious.' That has really been a deterrent." Gloucester High also has strict rules regarding drug and alcohol use, and the school will use Breathalyzers to test prom-goers for alcohol this year. But, Sullivan said, there is one thing that's even more effective in keeping teens safe: parental involvement. "The parents are the best deterrents of all," he said. Lane credited parental involvement and drug-education efforts, including television campaigns and the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, for keeping teen drug use from becoming a rampant problem in Gloucester. The city's schools no longer have DARE, but current high school students participated in the program when they were younger. "The current thought is drug use is not cool," Lane said. "DARE has finally paid some dividends, even though they're bashing it now." - --- MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman