Pubdate: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 Date: 02/13/2000 Source: Munster Times (IN) Author: Paul Hutchinson It's a shame the Lake Central School Board believes that urine tests will somehow keep kids off drugs. A couple of questions: Where is the research -- unbiased research, not that promulgated by the drug-testing industry -- that proves the efficacy of drug-testing students? You shouldn't be surprised to learn that no reliable research exists. Secondly, if drug testing must be imposed, why is it necessary to enrich an outside corporation to perform this service? I know from personal experience that a charge of $29 per test is triple the amount charged by many labs. That would mean a 200 percent markup for Indiana Testing Inc. Additionally, reliable tests can now be performed on-site without the extra expense and hassle of sending samples to a laboratory. No special skills are required, and the test kits are relatively inexpensive, at least by the standards of Indiana Testing Inc. The real issue, though, is why test at all? Kids will make their decisions about drugs based upon many factors. Fear of a drug-positive test isn't necessarily a deterrent. In fact, some kids will revel in the notoriety of testing positive. After all, it brings them attention. Meanwhile, students learn through the testing process that their bodies don't belong to them but are subject to search and seizure at the whim of government. And what of the Fourth Amendment? And the Fifth? Or is the Bill of Rights no longer relevant in today's high school environment? Give kids the education they need and deserve in order to make correct choices in their lives. But don't treat them like chattel. And remember the words of Thomas Jefferson: "A society that will trade a little liberty for a little order will lose both, and deserve neither." Paul Hutchinson, Englewood, Colorado