Pubdate: Thu, 13 Mar 2003
Source: Ventura County Star (CA)
Copyright: 2003, The E.W. Scripps Co.
Contact:  http://www.staronline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/479
Author: Amy Bentley, Correspondent
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

OJAI STUDENTS VOLUNTEER FOR DRUG-TESTING PROGRAM

One hundred Ojai Valley high school students have signed up so far for
a new, voluntary drug-testing program, and officials say testing will
begin within two weeks.

The Ojai Unified School District is the first in Ventura County to
launch a voluntary drug-testing program. District officials and other
supporters say the idea is not to punish anyone. Instead, the program
is designed to give students additional incentive to say no if
pressured by peers to experiment with drugs.

Signups began last week. Among 1,200 total students, 95 at Nordhoff
High School and five at Chapparal Continuation High School have agreed
so far to be tested, officials said.

One of them is Lauren Merritt, 17, a junior at Nordhoff. Lauren is the
student representative to the Nordhoff Parent Association and a member
of the school's student government.

"I'm doing it to support the program and to encourage other kids to do
it, too," she said.

Merritt said she's not a drug user and has no reason to be tested. But
she wants other students to know that school officials are not using
the program to pry into personal lives or punish anyone. Test results
will be forwarded directly from the lab to the student's parents.
School officials will get only the percentages of passes and fails,
not any student names.

James Berube, the district's assistant superintendent of
administrative services, said he was pleased with the initial 100
signups. Berube expects more as time goes on. "You can come into this
program at any time," he said.

Also encouraged is John Kenyon, president of the Nordhoff Parent
Association and a supporter of the testing program. Kenyon wants it
offered at junior highs as well, where most youths are introduced to
drugs.

"This is not something we're pushing on the kids. It's voluntary," he
said.

The names of students in the first group to be tested, probably this
month, were sent to a lab, Berube said.

School officials started the program after parents, students,
teachers, administrators, doctors and others in the Ojai Valley
expressed concerns about a rising number of drug arrests and overdoses
among young people.

Students who join the program will be randomly selected for testing.
They will be screened for eight substances, including marijuana,
cocaine and alcohol.

If the test is negative, the lab will inform parents by letter. If
it's positive, the sample will be retested at another lab, which will
call the parents if the test is still positive. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake