NATIONAL POLICYMAKER CALLS FOR STUDENT DRUG TESTING

SAN DIEGO ---- Calling student drug use a "national public-health
problem," the White House's deputy drug czar told educators Wednesday
that random drug testing can be a potent and effective deterrent strategy.

Mary Ann Solberg, deputy director of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy, strongly endorsed student screening before a crowd of
roughly 150 school and community leaders at a conference on drug
testing held at San Diego's Hilton Hotel in Mission Valley.

Opponents of student drug testing also attended the conference to ask
questions of the speakers and speak with reporters in the hallways.

"We see this as a very one-sided dog-and-pony show," said Kevin
Keenan, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego.

Not only do drug-testing programs train children that the government
can violate their bodily privacy, but they also keep money away from
other prevention methods with more proven track records, Keenan said.

"We've evolved tremendously from 'Just say No,' " he said.

The regional conference, the second of four planned for 2006, came
less than a week after the Vista Unified School District trustees
approved random testing for high school students wishing to
participate in extracurricular activities.

The Vista program is funded by a federal grant and could start by the
end of the month.

Aside from the Oceanside Unified School District, which randomly
tests its high school athletes, few North County school districts
have pursued drug testing.

None of the 84,000 or so students in Southwest Riverside County is
randomly drug-tested. Reached by phone and e-mail this week,
officials with public school districts in Temecula, Murrieta, Lake
Elsinore, Menifee and Perris said it's a program they do not employ.

"There are a lot of ramifications and invasion-of-privacy issues,"
said Danielle Clark, spokeswoman for the 25,000-student Temecula
Valley Unified School District, of drug-testing students. "We
basically tell the students what is acceptable and what isn't
acceptable, and athletes are the unspoken definition of role models
and we expect them to act that way."

Solberg told attendees that voluntary drug testing deters students
from using illegal substances and helps identify those already using
so they can get the help they need.

The tests should be confidential, she said, and positive results
should not get students in legal hot water.

"This can never appear on a permanent record," she said in a press
conference following her opening remarks. "This is not a criminal
justice issue."

But in a hallway interview, Jennifer Kern, a research associate with
the Drug Policy Alliance, said promises of a drug test's
confidentiality should offer little comfort to those who take them.
"Students are pulled out of class (for testing), then suddenly
they're not on the basketball team," she said, when asked how results
could become public knowledge.

About 51 percent of high school seniors reported taking an illicit
drug in their lifetimes, according to the national Monitoring the
Future survey in 2004. The survey was funded by the federal
government's National Institute on Drug Abuse, and was conducted by
the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. The
survey has been done annually since 1975.

Student drug testing is a key component of the White House's National
Drug Control Strategy. Solberg's office held a conference last month
in Orlando, Fla., and will travel to two more cities, Falls Church,
Va., and Milwaukee, in 2006 to promote the plan.

Attendees at the all-day event in San Diego heard presentations
ranging from legal issues, testing technology and how to develop a
screening program.

Attorney William Judge said that in his opinion, random student
drug-testing programs were not only legal but that they could also
protect schools from lawsuits.

"The question will be, 'What did you do to reasonably protect my
kid?' " he said.

Near the conclusion of her opening remarks, Solberg emphasized that
drug-testing programs should not be imposed by superintendents or
school boards, it should be a "community decision."

"It's something I'm interested in implementing," said attendee Chris
Greene, athletic director at Carlsbad High School, during a break in
the presentations. "I think it's positive for the kids."

He added, however, that the district is still in the
information-gathering stage and "we can't rush to any judgments."

Staff writer Jennifer Kabbany contributed to this report.