Pubdate: Wed, 12 Jul 2006
Source: USA Today (US)
Copyright: 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc
Contact:  http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/index.htm
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/466
Author: Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

  MORE SCHOOLS TEST FOR DRUGS

The number of schools testing students for drug use is rising as 
legal barriers to testing have fallen, funding for it has jumped and 
schools have begun to expand the categories of students who can be screened.

Since the Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that random testing of student 
athletes and others in competitive extracurricular activities did not 
violate the students' privacy rights, the Bush administration has 
made testing middle- and high-school students a priority. In the 
2005-06 school year, 373 public secondary schools got federal money 
for testing, up from 79 schools two years ago, U.S. Department of 
Education records show. The government has not tracked the rise of 
locally funded programs as closely, but the White House estimates 
that an additional 225 schools have them.

President Bush has asked Congress to increase grant money for testing 
by 45% next year, to $15 million.

The number of public secondary schools with testing programs remains 
a tiny percentage of the 28,000 such schools nationwide. Many 
districts have been reluctant to impose drug testing, fearing they 
could face challenges in state courts. Several states' constitutions 
include privacy rights that go beyond what federal courts have 
granted, says Graham Boyd, director of the ACLU's Drug Law Reform 
Project in Santa Cruz, Calif.

However, the rise in testing suggests that such programs are "taking 
off," says David Evans of the Drug-Free Schools Coalition in New 
Jersey. Schools in that state recently decided to randomly test 
athletes in state tournaments for about 80 substances, including 
stimulants and steroids. "This happened with workplace drug testing," 
Evans says. "It started slowly and then grew."

It's unclear how many students are testing positive for drugs. The 
results are secret, and schools are not required to report them to 
the U.S. government. The results also may not be given to police or 
used to punish students other than to remove them from 
extracurricular activities. Most schools involved in testing screen 
for marijuana, stimulants and opiates. More extensive tests, such as 
for steroids, add to the cost. A typical test costs $42, the 
Department of Education says.

A few school systems are beginning to test the legal boundaries the 
Supreme Court set for screening students. This fall, nearly all 575 
students in the Nettle Creek school district's secondary school in 
Hagerstown, Ind., will be subject to random testing ­ not only 
athletes and students in clubs, but also those who drive to campus 
and anyone who wants to attend a school dance, prom or class party.

The ACLU and groups such as Students for a Sensible Drug Policy say 
there is no proof that testing deters drug use. They say testing 
could discourage kids from joining sports teams or after-school clubs.

White House drug czar John Walters says testing gives teens a reason 
to reject peer pressure to use drugs. "It'll give a kid a suit of 
armor," he says.

Teens' drug use has dipped recently, a University of Michigan study 
says. However, 50% of 12th-graders surveyed last year said they had 
tried an illicit drug.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman