Pubdate: Tue, 19 Sep 2006 Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) Copyright: 2006 St. Louis Post-Dispatch Contact: http://www.stltoday.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/418 Author: Paul Hampel Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) HOME-USE DRUG KIT SALES SOAR, GROUP SAYS Since Nancy Reagan preached "Just Say No" in the 1980s, the adage has served as the guiding principle for the nation's drug prevention efforts. But Mason Duchatschek of Washington, Mo., wants America to embrace a new anti-drug axiom. "I want, 'No thanks, my parents test me,' to replace, 'Just say no,'" Duchatschek, 38, said last week. "I want that to take place in bus stops and playgrounds and locker rooms, because when kids say, 'Just say no,' I'm convinced the pressure gets worse." Parents seeking a more accurate way to detect drug use than smelling their children's breath or looking into their eyes are turning to businesses such as Duchatschek's TestMyTeen.com, a website that sells home drug-testing kits. Since 1999, sales of home test kits have more than doubled, to $6 billion last year, according to an industry group that tracks such sales. Prices range from around $15 for kits that test urine for 10 different drugs, to $90 for kits that test hair clippings and claim to detect drugs consumed months earlier. 'Just keeps growing' The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages such testing, saying kits fail to advise parents of the limitations of the tests, including the chances for false-positive readings. And experts say there's no evidence that such tests, even if accurate, curb drug abuse. Duchatschek incorporated his business in January of last year. Sales blossomed, he said, "from a trickle to now thousands of kits a month. And it just keeps growing." Walgreens' spokeswoman Tiffani Bruce said sales of their own test kits had jumped markedly in stores here since last year. "We've sold a lot of them, not just to parents, but also to job seekers who wonder if they are clean," she said. "It's been a booming business." This month, Duchatschek sent e-mails to every Missouri school district with more than 200 students, offering $5,000 in vouchers, good for one free kit per family. So far, three districts in Jefferson County - Hillsboro, De Soto and Windsor - have accepted his offer. A press release last week from Charlie Bouzek, Windsor's assistant superintendent, repeated, almost verbatim, the sales pitch from TestMyTeen.com. Bouzek wrote that by using Duchatschek's kits, parents did not have to "risk privacy and anonymity by standing next to the neighborhood gossip at the checkout register." "That's why ordering is done online and shipping is done using nondescript packaging. Ongoing random testing continues to provide kids with the excuse they need and parents with the peace of mind they deserve." Bouzek, along with administrators at Hillsboro and De Soto, said Jefferson County's reputation as a center of methamphetamine abuse had nothing to do with their participation in TestMyTeen.com. Duchatschek said his kits offered schools an effective way to fight drugs without any legal, political or financial risks. Caution advised But a debate is brewing over testing at home and in schools. And an expert who has written extensively on home drug-testing is wary of Duchatschek's motives. "I think we should be a little bit cautious at the school policy level when someone's making a big profit selling these things," said Dr. Sharon Levy of Harvard Medical School. "We really haven't seen any research to support any claims that drug testing at schools or at home has positive benefits. Just nothing but anecdotes. And I do really think in some families, it's going to have a negative effect on the parent-child relationship." Levy, 40, who is also the director of the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research at Children's Hospital in Boston, said talking to children about drugs should come well before any testing. "Let's do an experiment," she suggested. "Let's have a school that tests for drugs in urine and let's have another school where a professional comes in and interviews the kids on a regular basis and let's compare who has the better results - the school that talks knowledgeably and regularly about drugs versus the urine samplers. Nobody out there is talking to the kids." Parent backs kits One parent who said he regularly tested his child for drugs at home said the kits worked where talking failed. Mike Peterson, of St. Clair, said he noticed two years ago that his son, Benjamin, now 16, had become withdrawn. Benjamin's grades dropped. He lost interest in sports and hobbies. And he became surly with his parents. "I'm ashamed to admit it but all the signs were there and I didn't see them," Peterson, 45, said. "I thought it was just a phase - this, too, shall pass." Peterson, who operates an Internet business, found TestMyTeen.com while searching online for symptoms that matched his son's. He ordered several kits. He told his son that he had to take the test or he could not leave the house. Peterson said he watched, broken-hearted, as the test strip revealed the presence of four drugs in his son's urine: cocaine, marijuana, amphetamines and barbiturates. "He said, 'Dad, I guess you finally found me out. I've got a problem, and I'd like your help.' And I gave him help. I locked him down for a period of time. I watched him lay on the floor going through withdrawal. "And that's the way I wanted it to work - I wanted to solve the problem myself." Peterson said Monday that his son had been clean for "11 months, three weeks and three days." Duchatschek's own son is too young to test for drugs. But the day is coming, he said. "My son is in second grade. And he came up to me and said, 'Dad, don't worry about me. You'll never have to test me for drugs.' "And I said, 'Well, I'm glad to hear that, son. But I will be testing you. So expect it, because it's coming.'" ================== Talking to children about drugs Start early. Use everyday opportunities to talk, such as TV shows that mention drugs. Role-play ways children can say no to offers of drugs. State your family position: "We don't allow drug use, and children in this family aren't allowed to drink alcohol." Repeat the message. Be a good example. Try to be honest. Build your child's self-esteem. If you suspect a problem, seek help. Source: talkingwithkids.org Researcher Mark Learman of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this story - --- MAP posted-by: Derek