STUDY ARGUES DRUG TESTS MISPLACED

Busy Teens Less Likely to Use Drugs, Alcohol.

There should have been little surprise in the findings of a survey by
the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia
University. Sadly, too many school administrators haven't figured it
out.

The study found that teenagers who are stressed, bored or have more
than $25 a week in spending money are twice as likely as other teens
to get drunk, use illegal drugs or smoke.

This fits hand in glove with other studies that show students who are
involved in school, church or other extracurricular activities are
less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol. "The kids that are busy with
activities aren't going to have the time to come across the kids that
are engaged in at-risk behavior," says Marci Winston, the Springfield
Public Schools counseling coordinator.

Yet Ozarks school districts, at a time when money is tight, continue
to claim they are fighting the war on drugs by requiring athletes and,
in some cases, those involved in extracurricular activities, to agree
to random drug tests. Nixa became the latest to join this crowd, with
a vote this week.

This is bad policy for many reasons.

. It targets a population that is hardly at risk. Those districts with
several years of experience with drug tests acknowledge that they can
count the number of positive results on one hand. Incredibly, they
credit the test. The test, they claim, gives students a reason to turn
down drugs. It must be working because there are so few positive results.

Students who employ such circular reasoning in their school work get
an appropriately low grade. Administrators who use it to defend random
drug tests are commended, even if the tests are on kids who are least
likely to be using drugs.

. The drug most likely to be abused by teens is alcohol - the one drug
these tests will not detect. Signs of illegal drugs linger in the
human body; alcohol does not. Even if the star quarterback got drunk
at a post-game party Friday night, by the time he went back to school
on Monday his body would show no signs of it.

. Random drug tests contradict what schools ought to be teaching. The
Fourth Amendment guarantees "the right of the people to be secure in
their persons ... against unreasonable searches and seizures."

The Supreme Court ruled that random drug tests of students in
extracurricular activities do not violate that guarantee, as school
administrators point out. The court, however, had to jump through a
lot of hoops to come to that conclusion. Districts shouldn't be
putting social studies teachers in the position of explaining why the
Fourth Amendment means what it says - except when it is
inconvenient.

. Drug tests of those least likely to be using drugs waste money.
Schools have so many needs. This money could be used more effectively
in so many other areas that don't tread on constitutional freedoms.