Drug Tests for Schoolkids

Bad idea.
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Drug czar: Test for drugs in schools

Thursday, October 09, 2003 - BOSTON (AP) -- President Bush's drug czar told New England governors Wednesday that drug testing in schools would be an effective way to combat a growing problem of drug use among young people, but area school officials caution there are problems with it.

The region's six governors and John Walters, director of the Office of Drug Control Policy, met at Faneuil Hall in an anti-drug summit focusing on New England's heroin epidemic.

New England has more people ages 12 and over dependent on illegal drugs than any other region of the nation, according to Walters.

Heroin as cheap as $4 per bag has made it easier for young people to get hooked, he said.

"This is a tool that will make a difference," Walters said of drug testing of school children. "It's time has come."

But the idea of widespread testing left some local education officials uneasy.

"I don't believe it's reasonable to randomly test kids," said Wesley Knapp, superintendent of the Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union.

There would have to be some basis for suspecting a student of using drugs before taking further steps, he said. In that case, some action may be justified, he said.

"It's an infringement of freedom, and kids have the same constitutional rights as adults," he said.

If there were cause for suspecting a student of drug use he would first contact the parents, said Arlington Memorial High School Principal Kerry Csizmesia.

The school offers anti-drug programs, and health classes that cover drug use have been expanded to include the junior high school grades as well as the high school, he said.

"I'm for anything that will curb drug use among young people," he said. "You just hope the kids have the knowledge to make good choices. Support from the home is important."

Charles Scranton, the headmaster of Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester, said he was completely and totally against across-the-board drug testing.

"For those who have put themselves in that position it's one thing," he said. "It could erode a positive culture and climate at a school."

All three administrators said that further details of what Walters may have had in mind would be necessary before further comment.

New England has placed a "national face" on the growing heroin problem, said Karen Tandy, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

"It is a big business," Tandy told the governors and the assembled audience. "You might as well be sitting at the border of Columbia in this Northeast region."

High level heroin traffickers are transporting drugs directly to New England bypassing the traditional transport route through New York City, and are marketing heroin directly to children, Tandy said.

"Colombian traffickers have created what is in effect a franchise marketing system," Tandy said.

Tandy and several governors said more federal money is needed to combat the problem.

 

That may be, but it seems stupid to treat kids like criminals.