Pubdate: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 Source: Log Cabin Democrat (AR) Copyright: The Log Cabin Democrat Contact: http://thecabin.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/548 Author: Bruce L. Plopper SCHOOL SHOULD DELAY DRUG TESTS From Bruce L. Plopper, Conway: In addition to questions about the legality of Conway Public School's new drug-testing policy, Conway parents should know about the lack of published research concerning drug testing's effects and also about the damage that a drug-testing threat may cause to students. First, I cannot find any documented evidence that drug testing actually decreases substance abuse among students in grades 7 through 12. Before we subject our children to this extreme experiment, such evidence should be established. Second, several reputable sources say drug testing may have unintended, negative consequences. One suggests the threat of drug testing might drive students away from extracurricular activities (populated by students least likely to abuse drugs) and toward a new group of friends whose recreation includes substance abuse. Another says it may be counterproductive to exclude youth who fail drug tests from participation in after school activities, since leaving them unsupervised during the critical after school hours may increase their likelihood of drug involvement. A third says that additional negative outcomes of a drug-testing policy include 1) students switching to more exotic drugs they believe are less likely to be detected by simple drug tests, 2) increased mistrust and suspicion between students and school staff, 3) emotional harm to students with "false positives," and 4) risk to the school district of protracted legal action due to false positives. While I applaud all those who have worked so hard to develop an anti- drug policy for our school system, I believe the Conway Board of Education should suspend its current policy immediately, take time to re-evaluate it, and wait for the U. S. Supreme Court to decide if it is legal. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens