DRUG TESTING IGNORES THE GREATER THREAT

Does the Mid-Pacific Institute seriously believe that voluntary drug
tests will catch drug-using students (Star-Bulletin, July 29)? Still,
voluntary drug tests are preferable to mandatory ones. The U.S.
Supreme Court made a terrible mistake when it ruled that drug testing
students in extracurricular activities is constitutional. Student
involvement in after-school activities has been shown to reduce drug
use. Drug testing might compel marijuana users to switch to harder
drugs like crystal meth to avoid testing positive.

Despite a short-lived high, organic marijuana is the only illegal drug
that stays in the human body long enough to make urinalysis a
deterrent. If you think students don't know this, think again. Anyone
capable of running an Internet search can find out how to thwart a
drug test. The most commonly abused drug and the one most closely
associated with violent behavior is almost impossible to detect with
urinalysis. That drug is alcohol, and it takes far more student lives
each year than all illegal drugs combined. Instead of wasting money on
counterproductive drug tests, schools should invest in reality-based
drug education.

Robert Sharpe

Policy analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.