Invasive drug testing arguments neglect health, safety issues

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In response to a challenge posed this week to parents to stand up for their rights and encourage students to refuse to submit to drug testing, I pose a different one. Parents, take a moment to ask yourself if it would be more devastating to have your child urinate in a cup, than to become addicted to drugs or alcohol, overdose with resultant brain damage or cause an accident while under the influence that costs lives.

According to John P. Walters, director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), “Like vision and hearing tests, drug testing can alert parents to potential problems that continued drug use might cause, such as liver or lung damage, memory impairment, addiction or death. 

Once the drug problem has been identified, intervention and then treatment, if appropriate, can begin.”

All of us, including our schools, must understand that the goal of drug testing isn’t to punish kids for using. Yes, there should be swift and logical consequences for youth drug use, but that is not the primary reason for the strategy. The main purposes of drug testing are to deter use and identify emergent drug use so that appropriate counseling or treatment can take place to stop use from progressing to abuse.

Schools that use random drug testing have statistically demonstrated the practice to be an integral part of an effective comprehensive strategy for preventing drug use. If youth expect that they will be drug tested, the expectation alone may deter them from using. In addition, many students endorse drug testing because it gives them an out, an excuse to say “no” in the presence of peers that are using. If your son wants to play in this week’s game, he’ll likely turn down the opportunity to drink or smoke pot if there’s a chance he could get tested and be benched.

Testing as deterrence has been largely effective in the workplace. According to ONDCP, employers who have followed the federal drug testing model have seen a 67 percent decrease in positive drug tests, as well as declines in absenteeism, accidents and healthcare costs and increases in productivity.

The argument that workers choose to work, while students are required to attend school, will undoubtedly surface as a response to this information. Workers are required to follow rules and obey laws to keep their job and get a paycheck. Shouldn’t we expect youth to do the same, follow rules and obey the law? This is a matter of establishing community norms against drug use and addresses a statement made by a citizen earlier this week about youth smoking marijuana on the weekend. If students know that they are expected to be drug free and a community-supported drug testing policy exists to reinforce this expectation, it follows that drug use will decline.

Looking at the issue from another angle, drug and alcohol use interferes with individual students’ ability to learn, as well as disrupts what should be an orderly environment conducive to learning. Research on high risk behavior has shown that students who use illicit drugs are more likely to bring guns and knives to school. Specifically, students who smoke marijuana are more likely to be involved in violence, destructive acts, theft and truancy than those who do not.

If schools should offer protection from violence and other forms of abuse, they should also provide a learning environment free from the influence of illegal drugs. Drug testing as a deterrent is one part of a comprehensive plan to do so.

School community, I encourage you to do what is best for the health, safety and achievement of our students. Parents, I encourage you to start a conversation with your child now about drug use, drug testing and the simple fact that if your child doesn’t use alcohol, tobacco or other drugs it doesn’t really matter if she is randomly tested. She’ll be drug free, and that’s the most important thing.

Kelly Trusty is executive director of A.H.E.A.D. Coalition. Her column appears Fridays in the Journal Review. 

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