Damages Caused by Drug Testing in Schools
Posted on October 13th, 2007 by admin
Henrietta schools halt drug testing because of 3 cases of false positive test results
On a Friday, school tells parents of 3 students “your child failed their drug test”.
School calls parents on Monday saying, “oops - never mind. There was a mistake at the drug testing lab.”
The Principle’s apology can’t fix what undoubtedly ensued between these parents and their children over the weekend.
I will never allow my daughter to attend a school that requires drug testing.
Schools have no business policing our children outside school grounds.
Never say never.
1. I am a parent.
2. I work for a oral fluid-based drug testing company.
First, a drug test is not “positive” until an analytical test
(GC/MS, or LC/MS/MS) has been run, and an MRO (MD or OD) has reviewed the findings.
Any drug testing program that doesn’t follow these steps after an initial screen is no following “best practices.”
Are you are that 10% of ALL persons employed between 18-49 years old abuse drugs (not including alcohol). This number is much higher for 18-25 years olds, and we simply don’t have enough data to know about middle and high schoolers.
Are you are that, on average, it takes 3.5 years for a parent to know their child is on drugs?
Random drug testing is an effective deterent. That said, equal emphasis needs to be placed upon education and counselling. Furthermore any drug testing program should be non-punitive.
I suggest you look at the facts, and the potentiaon impacts of not drug testing, before you say “never”.
I suggest you follow your own advice and look at the facts.
RANDOM DRUG TESTING DOES NOT
DETER DRUG USE (Published in the April 2003 Journal of School Health, the study was conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan and funded in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.)
The first large-scale national study on student drug testing found
no difference in rates of drug use between schools that have drug
testing programs and those that do not.1 Based on data collected
between 1998 and 2001 from 76,000 students nationwide in 8th,
10th, and 12th grades, the study found that drug testing did not have an impact on illicit drug use among students, including athletes.
Dr. Lloyd D. Johnston, an author of the study, directs Monitoring
the Future, the leading survey by the federal government of
trends in student drug use and attitudes about drugs. According to
Dr. Johnston, “[The study] suggests that there really isn’t an
impact from drug testing as practiced…I don’t think it brings
about any constructive changes in their attitudes about drugs or
their belief in the dangers associated with using them.”
So who gets to pay for the random drug tests at schools? Will it be my tax dollars? If Peter has his facts right…. “on average, it takes 3.5 years for a parent to know if their child is on drugs”… what that says to me, is the parent(s) doesn’t really know what’s going on in their own child’s life and hasn’t for years.
I agree on the education part of his comment, but If Peter feels random drug testing is an “effective deterent”, perhaps he should go to the pharmacy and buy his own drug testing kit.
I don’t want to pay for policing his children, or anyone elses for that matter.