Pubdate: Thu, 19 May 2005
Source: Lowell Sun (MA)
Copyright: 2005 MediaNews Group, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.lowellsun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/852
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

PUSH FOR TESTING

The proposal being pushed by Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey to institute 
parent-approved drug testing at Massachusetts' public high schools has 
merit and should find support with legislators.

Under Healey's plan, which must still be approved by the Legislature as 
part of a $9.1 million anti-drug package, students would be tested during 
the regular school day, provided their parents had given permission. Healey 
realizes that students' drug use can't be halted if it hasn't been 
discovered. Sometimes parents and guardians can be blind to things they 
don't want to see.

Healey is also pressing to establish two "sober" high schools for youths 
who are recovering addicts and increased spending on both short-term 
detoxification and long-term treatment. That's important. Treatment and 
recovery must be part of any plan to help young drug users.

"We can not afford to wait any longer to take action,"   Healey said when 
announcing her proposal. She's right.

Massachusetts is in the top five among states with the highest alcohol- and 
drug-use rates. Abuse of OxyContin and heroin -- which is much cheaper and 
easier to use today than in years past -- is growing dramatically. Steps 
must be taken to stem the rising tide of addiction and drug- and 
alcohol-related deaths. We recognize there are privacy issues with the 
proposed random drug testing, just as there are with locker searches. Some 
parents and their teenagers strongly oppose them. But many other parents 
and students recognize the problems caused by drug and alcohol use. They 
see the value of drug testing, even while resenting the lack of trust it 
implies and the kind of atmosphere random drug testing will create.

Parents can't -- and shouldn't -- trust children who are using drugs or 
alcohol. Trust has to be earned. It's not a right.   Random testing is a 
valid way to identify students who need help, students who might otherwise 
go unnoticed. Alcohol and drug abuse are seriously dangerous issues among 
high-school and middle-school students. Every year, it seems, the numbers 
get worse as more (and younger) students flirt with danger by experimenting 
with illegal drugs. Students who are using drugs and alcohol need 
assistance while they are young and more readily influenced, and before 
addiction takes its inevitable toll. Healey's proposal would go a long way 
toward helping students who are starting down the wrong path in life.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom