POLICE OFFER PARENT AID, A TEEN DRUG TEST

Participation Is Voluntary, With No Prosecution

Waiting for the results of his drug test, Medford Police Lt. Tim
George jokes about how he's been avoiding poppy seed muffins.

A guinea pig for the new program Parent Aid--a voluntary urinalysis
kit designed for parents and teens--George isn't surprised when the
results surface a few minutes later.

Negative across the board, announces School Resource Officer Phil
Steigleder, who administered the test.

"I'm off the hook," George jokes. "I'm all right. I'm still gainfully
employed."

And, George adds, a person could eat poppy-seed muffins until they
burst and would still test negative in this drug test.

Hoping to spread the word about Parent Aid, George cheerfully
submitted to the test Tuesday in hopes of drawing in participants.

"This is strictly a voluntary program," he says. "This isn't about
catching kids. We're not holding anybody down. It's for their
benefit."

Both parents and their teens must agree to the test before it's
administered, Steigleder says.

Kids who test positive aren't punished, nor is their record marked.
Instead, they're referred to agencies that can help them and their
families, Steigleder says.

"After that, we just walk away," Steigleder adds. "We're only
interested in helping the kids."

Officers don't even keep the names of the participants, only the
statistical data, George says.

"We don't care who these people are," he adds. "The only thing we're
tracking is the results."

In 1999, the county juvenile department handled 248 cases involving
drugs. About 108 of those cases stemmed from Medford.

Medford police believe that most often, parents aren't aware their
children are using drugs until about two years after the kids' first
experimentation.

Officers are hopeful this program will not only curb drug use, but
cut down on the problem.

"This is strictly just for information, where the behavior is coming
from, how to get them back on track," Steigleder says.

Steigleder has administered six drug tests to Medford teens since
officers began training in September. Three of those participants
tested positive for marijuana use, he says.

The parents of one of the test participants, a 16-year-old Medford
girl, suspected their child of drug use prior to the positive test,
Steigleder says.

The teen had been disobeying household rules and would not tell her
parents where she was spending her time--some of the symptoms of
marijuana use, he says. The case was brought to Steigleder's
attention when the girl was reported as a runaway.

The process, which takes three to eight minutes, is 92 to 98 percent
accurate. Parents not satisfied with the results can send the test to
the state crime lab to have the findings verified, but they must pay
$20.

Although an officer doesn't accompany the teen while the test is
conducted, George says it's almost impossible to alter the findings.

In addition to screening for marijuana, amphetamines and cocaine, the
test also reads the temperature of the sample. That ensures that the
urine hasn't been brought in, George says.

Taking drugs or polluting the sample will change the pH of the urine, he says.

Marijuana will stay in the system for up to 30 days, but powdered
drugs can no longer be detected after about three days, George says.

A teen's refusal to take the test can be a sign of drug use as well,
George adds, or a signal that parents need to become more involved in
their child's life.

"We're police officers, not parents," he says. "Parents need to know
what their kids are up to. There needs to be awareness."

The tests are being administered by the Gang and Street Drug Unit and
are available for families who live in Medford or students who attend
schools within the district.

Parent Aid is being sponsored for one year by the Oregon Association
of Chiefs of Police. If it's successful, George says, the department
will seek out funding to continue the program.