Pubdate: Mon, 11 Dec 2006
Source: Arizona Daily Star (AZ)
Copyright: 2006 Pulitzer Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/23
Author: Jeff Commings and George Sanchez
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

DRUG TESTING FOR ALL STUDENTS AT SALPOINTE

Salpointe Catholic High School is set to become the  first school in
Pima County to require the entire  student body undergo drug testing.

The program will start in the fall, said Mike Urbanski,  head of
student services at Salpointe, 1545 E. Copper  Street.

Urbanski said the program will be modeled after the one  used at St.
Patrick High School in Chicago, where hair  samples have been used to
test for drugs since 2004.

The test uses a strand of hair from each student, which  is a more
reliable test for longtime drug use than the  more common urinalysis,
according to the Web site for  Psychemedics, the company that will run
Salpointe's  tests.

Evidence of drug use stays in the hair for about 90  days, more than
ten times longer than it would in urine  or saliva, the company says,
and washing hair cannot  remove any indication of drug use.

The list of drugs that can be detected with hair  testing include
cocaine, marijuana, opiates,  methamphetamine, ecstasy and
phencyclidine, or PCP.

Consequences of a positive test include a conference  with parents and
Urbanski, in which counseling options  will be considered. The student
also will have to agree  to take another test 100 days after the first
test.

A second positive result could mean suspension or  expulsion. Some of
the more than 1,200 students at  Salpointe said they learned of the
program through  word-of-mouth. The announcement was met with mixed
emotions.

"It's almost untrusting of the students," said  sophomore Mark Mangn,
16. "It's kind of necessary  though. If people need help, they need
help."

Read more in Tuesday's Daily Star.
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MAP posted-by: Derek