Pubdate: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 Source: Madison Daily Leader (SD) Copyright: 2004 Madison Daily Leader Contact: http://www.zwire.com/news/newslist.cfm?brd=1302 Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1003 Pubdate: Jon M. Hunter Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) DRUG-TESTING AT SCHOOLS IS NOT A CASUAL PROCEDURE The use of illegal drugs by students is a problem in many places, and we'd guess that some students at Madison Central take drugs regularly while others have just tried them. We know drugs can lead to serious health, social, financial and criminal problems. We'd like to see them eradicated. Some people may believe drug-testing will catch the users or the possibility of being caught may reduce drug use. They may be right. But there are serious issues with drug-testing that the school board will learn. They include: - -- Invasion of privacy. There is not legal certainty that schools can test for drugs without suspicion that a student is using them. Think of a drug test as a search warrant. Officials can't search your home without good reasons for doing so. - -- False positives. Drug-testing is not flawless. Imagine the consequences of a law-abiding student falsely testing positive for drugs. That accusation could seriously harm the student permanently. - -- Other medications. What about prescription medications or over-the-counter medicines? Would a student need to describe what medications they are taking to a tester (to avoid being tagged as an illegal drug user) when that information is normally part of the confidential relationship between a patient and doctor? - -- Alcohol. Most observers believe alcohol use is the real problem in high schools. A drug-testing program would not likely help in this area. The school board did the right thing by asking for more information. When they get that information, they may discover this idea is well-intentioned but has too many negative consequences. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom