What Can You do?

1)  Contact your local school boards to encourage them to implement student drug testing.

2)  Send letters to editors of local newspapers in support of student drug testing.

3)  Contact your local, state, and national politicians to encourage their support in promoting, implementing, and funding student drug testing. 

Even though there are funds in the No Child Left Behind Act for student drug testing, we will need much more if we are to be successful. 

Student Drug Testing

MOMSTELL President Sharon Smith holding poster of daughter Angela

In June 2002 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "testing students who participate in extracurricular activities is a reasonably effective means of addressing the School District's legitimate concerns in preventing, deterring, and detecting drug use."  School districts now considering implementing student drug testing programs may benefit from the results of a recent survey of nine schools that have been pioneers in the field of student drug testing.

During the 2001-2002 school year, seven public schools and two private schools with successful student drug testing programs were surveyed about their program's policies, procedures, history, and results.

Following are some survey findings:

--In every school the student drug testing program's purpose is the
prevention of drug use rather than punishment and the program is part of a larger, comprehensive drug education and prevention initiative.

--All of the drug testing programs include random testing, typically by urinalysis.  All of the schools routinely test for marijuana and cocaine and eight schools also test for heroin/codeine, amphetamines/meth-amphetamine, and PCP.  The average program costs per student is $19 per year.

--The groups of students most commonly tested by the schools are athletes, those participating in extracurricular activities, and students who drive to school.  All students are eligible for drug testing in three of the schools surveyed.

--The consequences of a student's first positive drug test vary from school to school, but generally result in parental notification, loss of playing time for athletes, drug education, counseling (therapy) for the student and/or family, and follow-up drug testing.  None of the schools report students with positive drug tests to the police.

--The programs demonstrated their success by reduced number of positive tests, lowered levels of disciplinary problems and self reported drug use.

The advice offered to other schools interested in starting their own drug testing program is to involve parents, law enforcement, and other community members in the planning process, and to make sure they understand that the program is intended to help students say no to drugs.
 

(CESAR, United States Department of Education.
Report of a Preliminary Study:  Elements of a Successful School-Based Student Drug Testing Program, 2002.

Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls, 122 S. Ct. 2559 (2002)

What You Need to Know About Drug Testing in Schools
.The Office of national Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) recently released a report that answers common questions about school drug testing.
 

HIDTA

Participates as a member of the National Student Drug Testing Coalition, working on behalf of schools and children.  Resources are available and more are being created every day to assist schools and school districts in setting up programs for students and/or employees to meet accepted standards. Please feel free to contact me via the toll-free number for assistance and technical information. Please pass along this Advisory as many schools/districts are not on e-mail to receive this information..

Results of Indiana Study on Effectiveness of Student Drug-Testing Programs Released:

Recently, Joseph R. McKinney, J.D., Ed.D, Chair of the Department of Educational Leadership at Ball State University and Adjunct Professor of Law at Indiana University/Indianapolis School of Law, released a study comparing drug use in Indiana high schools during a school year when student drug-testing programs (1999-2000) were operational to the following school year when student drug testing programs were suspended (2000-2001).
 

Approximately 80 Indiana high schools had active student drug-testing programs during the 1999-2000 school year, which were put on temporary hold during the 2000-2001 school year due to a court ruling (which was on appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court) prohibiting the random drug testing of students based upon Indiana constitutional considerations.

Principals at 71 high schools (88 percent of Indiana high schools with student drug testing programs) participated in the study, reporting the following increases in drug use during the 2000-2001 non-testing school year over the previous 1999-2000 testing year:

85 percent saw an increase in either drug or alcohol use.  80 percent reported an increase in illicit drug use.  78 percent reported an increase in the number of students who provided information that drug and alcohol use was on the rise since the drug-testing program had been suspended. 

518 students were suspended or expelled for drug/alcohol related incidents as compared to 352 for the 1999-2000 drug testing year.  55 percent of principals reported that coaches provided information that they in turn had received regarding an increase in drinking incidents among student athletes after the drug-testing programs had been suspended.  57 percent reported the same regarding student athlete drug use. 

89 percent of principals participating in the study believed that drug testing did, in fact, limit the effects of peer pressure by providing students a legitimate reason to refuse illegal drugs and alcohol.  All high schools, regardless of size or location were impacted by the increase of drug and alcohol use once drug-testing programs stopped.

The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the schools and drug-testing programs are being reinstated. 

Full Report

If you have any questions, please feel free to call the HIDTA Demand Reduction Office:
 

C. E. Edwards
HIDTA Demand Reduction Coordinator
Drug-Free Workplaces and Schools
(520) 547-8845 (Tucson, AZ) or (877) 817-6809 (toll-free)
fax: (520) 547-8776

(AZ  HIDTA, Demand-Reduction Program, a member of the National Student Drug Testing Committee)