Pubdate: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 Source: News-Press (Fort Myers, FL) Copyright: 2006 The News-Press Contact: http://www.news-press.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1133 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) PARENTS, NOT TESTS, HELP STOP DRUG USE Federally Funded School Screening Of Collier Athletes, Cheerleaders Already Has Gaps In Effectiveness Student athletes and cheerleaders in Collier County will be tested for illicit drug use next year, thanks to $209,662 being funneled our way by the federal government. About 3,000 students will be randomly tested for everything from marijuana to PCP. They are part of a nationwide program that is costing the taxpayers $8.6 million. It sounds good, and, frankly it sends a positive message: We don't want our young people ruining their lives with drugs. But one must wonder if this isn't a program that offers more glitz than substance, especially when you consider these cautions: The urine testing does not detect alcohol and steroids; steroids being most tempting to athletes and alcohol being the No. 1 drug of choice for both adults and adolescents. Alcohol is excluded because the testing program cannot detect it within a reasonable amount of time and steroid testing is too expensive. The testing targets those students in the school system who are the most likely to be involved in wholesome activities that tend to keep them away from drugs. Athletes and cheerleaders, quite obviously, can be drug abusers, but the likelihood of them being impaired by excessive drug use is slight. The rationale for testing them is that they are school leaders and, hence, should set an example for other students. Not a convincing argument for excluding the most likely to need help. Southwest Florida is seriously lacking in treatment. There is, generally, a two-month waiting list for outpatient drug treatment for teens. Our region, because of a lack of political clout in Tallahassee, is second to last in the state for treatment funding. If we are going to spend for testing, we need to spend much, much more for treatment. There is a danger that parents, looking to the schools for testing and detection, could abdicate their responsibility for seeing to it that their children are drug-free. PARENTS ARE KEY "One of the big myths is that peer pressure is the No. 1 influence on kids," said Kevin Lewis, executive director of Southwest Florida Addiction Services. "The reality is parents are still the No. 1 influence." The key to drug abuse prevention is early intervention, Lewis said. "I could get excited about a junior high program," he said. Lewis wants parents talking with their children early and he wants them starting with tobacco because tobacco leads to marijuana use, etc and etc. "I would rather have the parents and the kids arguing over cigarettes than amphetamines," he said. Under the Collier program, student athletes or cheerleaders producing a positive test result will be referred for treatment. Punishments will be handed down according to each of the seven individual schools' codes of conduct. In Lee County, possession of a controlled substance can result in expulsion. In lieu of expulsion, school board members can waive that action and require students to complete a drug-abuse program, after which they can be subjected to testing monthly. If a positive test comes back, the expulsion can be reinstated. The schools try their mightiest, but so much of what they do is too little, too late. It is good, in a way, that Collier is seeking to discover drug use early in a student's experience. But there seem to be too many remaining concerns to consider the program a major factor in reducing drug use. We like Lewis' bottom-line assessment: "Involved, engaged parents are the No. 1 asset in a person's life." Come on, mom and dad: Let's stamp out drug use, one home at a time. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom