Pubdate: Sun, 06 Feb 2005
Source: Scotland On Sunday (UK)
Copyright: 2005 The Scotsman Publications Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/405
Author: Peter Martell
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

PARENTS SNAPPING UP TEN-MINUTE TEST TO TELL IF CHILDREN USE DRUGS

PARENTS worried that their children are taking drugs have turned to
UKP12 do-it-yourself testing kits.

The 10-minute test can detect cannabis up to 14 days after it is
taken, but only three to five days after cocaine, amphetamines or
opiates are used.

The disposable strip is similar to a pregnancy test and changes colour
if positive when dipped into a urine sample.

Up to 370 of the urine tests have been bought in Scotland in the past
eight months.

However, anti-drugs charities last night voiced concern.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Drugs Forum, the non-government drugs
policy and information agency, said: "These kits exploit parental
concerns about drug use and affect open dialogue. It could drive a
wedge between parents and their children about what the children's
problems really are."

Alistair Ramsay, of campaign group Scotland Against Drugs, said: "The
relationship between parents and children, particularly during
adolescence, can be very difficult. The best relationships develop in
an atmosphere of trust, and it is difficult to see how a parent could
demonstrate that trust while using scientific programmes to determine
whether or not their children are using drugs."

He added: "It is far better for parents to spend time with their
children as they are growing and developing, and that way they will
notice any change in behaviour, which is a good indicator that
something is going on."

While the kits can be bought over the counter in a pharmacy, no
chemist is believed to stock them in Scotland, but hundreds of parents
have already contacted the manufacturer directly to order.

John Mullee, a spokesman for Irish manufacturer Hunter Diagnostics,
claims sales are "steaming ahead", with 5,600 tests sold in the UK
since the product was launched last May.

He stressed that the company did not support tests without the consent
of the child. "The moment trust is broken is when there is a
suspicion. Parents have to put in parameters. Their job is to keep
their children healthy, lucid and safe up to the age of 18.

"It is only one part of an overall project, but the key to it is
absolute honesty. You have to communicate with the kid.

"Our test is a urine test, and by virtue of that, it means you must
communicate. It might not be a very comfortable conversation - it will
probably be awkward and difficult - but, as parents, we cannot just
keep taking our children on holiday and buying them presents.

"If the result is positive, then the parents and child can get on and
address the problem."

A spokeswoman from DrugScope, the drugs information charity, raised
concerns about the consequences of a false positive result. "No test
is ever always 100% correct," she said.

Neither did the tests focus on the most common problem children faced.
She added: "It doesn't actually cover any of the legal drugs -
alcohol, tobacco and solvents - which, for school-age children, are
proportionally a much bigger problem." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake