Pubdate: Sun, 01 Oct 2000
Source: Munster Times (IN)
Copyright: 2000 The Munster Times
Contact:  The Times, 601 45th Ave., Munster, IN 46321
Fax: (219) 933-3249
Website: http://www.thetimesonline.com/
Author: Tom Alexander

LAB OFFERS KIT FOR DRUG TESTING AT HOME

MICHIGAN CITY -- With the Indiana State Court of Appeals' August decision 
that random drug testing in high schools was illegal, some concerned 
parents wanted measures to make sure their children were not using drugs.

Great Lakes Laboratories, the lab that conducted the random tests for 
Chesterton High School, came up with a solution.

"I had a handful of parents who had no idea where they could find a place 
to drug-screen their child confidentially in the privacy of their own home 
and then have the ability of consultation with board-certified 
toxicologists," said Michelle Volk, director of Great Lakes Laboratories in 
Michigan City.

Volk decided to offer kits that allowed home testing for only $33.

"We have parents out there that suspect their children might be using," she 
said. "Instead of having to wait to see a physician, we have the kits 
available that they can do in their own home."

Volk said the laboratory offers two distinct tests. The first kit tests for 
marijuana, amphetamines, opiates, cocaine and PCP. The other kit adds five 
other, less common drugs.

"A parent can choose whatever they want," Volk said, adding that the lab 
could screen for alcohol or prescription drug abuse, as well.

Volk said the lab had done at least 15 tests in the 60 days they'd been 
offering the kits. She said marijuana is the drug that is most commonly 
suspected, followed by opiates (the category that includes heroin). Volk 
indicated that a majority of the tests returned positive results.

"Most parents that suspect are close to being on the money," she said.

Many of the parents who have come forward looking for tests are parents 
whose children would not have been in the population that was randomly 
selected for the tests, Volk said, but rather parents of kids who asked the 
school to include their child in the group when the school was still 
conducting the tests.

"At the point when the appellate court didn't uphold the random drug 
screening, the parents that put their children in that program were without 
any place to go, literally," Volk said. "That was one of my primary reasons 
to let the communities know they have a place to turn."

Volk said she thought random testing policies were not a violation of 
rights, as long as they were handled properly.

"I know it's a very strong issue," Volk said. "If I were a parent and 
sometimes I suspected, sometimes it's that push that gets a child help. If 
you save one child that's better than losing 10."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D