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RANDOM STUDENT DRUG TESTING WORKS

It's About Public Health -- Identifying Individuals Who Need Help and Treatment -- Not Punishment

Over the past three years, youth drug use in America has declined by 17 percent.  Today, there are 600,000 fewer young people using drugs than in 2001.  While our prevention efforts are resulting in a national decline, too many young people are still using drugs.  Pennsylvania is no exception.  Our youth continue to use drugs, particularly marijuana, at an alarming rate.  In fact, approximately 15 percent of Pennsylvanians between the ages of 12 and 17 tried marijuana in 2004, a startling statistic. 

We know from 20 years of experience that we are not powerless against drug use in America.  There are proven methods to reduce the number of youth who start using drugs.  In 2002, a promising solution emerged when the U.S.  Supreme Court cleared the way for schools to perform random drug tests on a much larger portion of the student population. 

That decision marked the beginning of a hopeful new phase in the effort to keep our children drug-free.  Drug testing is not performed to punish students or expel them, but rather to identify individuals who need help, and to refer them to counseling or treatment. 

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy is holding a series of regional summits throughout the country ( including one in Pittsburgh tomorrow ) for concerned education officials and community leaders to inform them about random student drug testing.  Through these summits we are educating participants about developing student drug testing policies, legal considerations associated with starting and executing a program, technology used in administering random drug tests, the importance of a student assistance program and federal grant opportunities.  The information offered at the summits is for schools and communities to use in determining if this prevention tool is appropriate for their needs. 

Random student drug testing is not a federal mandate.  Individual communities must determine their own response to addressing the unique challenges of drug abuse in their areas.  For schools and communities weighing whether or not to implement a student drug testing program, a few facts merit consideration. 

Many Americans still have antiquated notions about the dangers of marijuana, but research over the last decade has proven the harmful effects of marijuana use, especially for youth.  The National Institute on Drug Abuse notes that heavy marijuana use impairs the ability of young people to concentrate and retain information during their peak learning years.  Additionally, the American Journal of Psychiatry published a study in 2001 presenting evidence that marijuana abusers are four times more likely to report symptoms of depression and have more suicidal thoughts than those who never used the drug. 

Furthermore, numerous studies recently published by European researchers have shown a strong correlation between marijuana use and schizophrenia.  Drug testing is an appropriate public health response, just as testing for tuberculosis in schools was a way of identifying and then limiting a public health epidemic. 

There are those who represent student drug testing as a tool of "Big Brother" and a violation of personal privacy.  Upon examination, these concerns have turned out to be largely unfounded and often exaggerated.  The Supreme Court, in fact, carefully weighed the privacy issue, ultimately determining that a school's interest in protecting children from the influence of drugs outweighs their expectation of privacy.  The court further mandated that the results of the tests be kept confidential -- shared only with the parents of the student, in order to help refer the student into the appropriate level of counseling or treatment, not punishment. 

To dwell on possible problems with drug testing is to overlook the potential benefits, which are enormous.  Already, drug testing has proven remarkably effective at reducing drug use in schools and businesses throughout the county.  As a deterrent, few methods work better or deliver clearer results.  Drug testing of airline pilots and school bus drivers has made our skies and roadways much safer for travel.  And since the U.S.  military began testing in the early 1980s, drug use among servicemen and -women has plunged from 27 percent to less than 2 percent. 

Experience has taught us that people at the local level often know best how to deal with drug problems in their own communities.  But to combat the threat, they need good information and the best resources available.  These summits will provide parents, school administrators, teachers and mentors with the knowledge to consider drug testing as part of an overall strategy to fight drug use.