DRUG TESTING IS A REALITY

I have to take exception to Joe Cook's letter Sept. 4 in which he suggests
drug testing "treats students like inmates in prison."

It's unfortunate that we live in an an age where drug testing is becoming
more and more necessary and not just in schools, but like it or not, this
is the world in which we live.

Indeed, drug testing by employers is quite commonplace and has been
instrumental in both reducing drug abuse in the workplace as well as in
early identification of employees who have addictions so they can receive help.

Although the mayor should be commended, not condemned, for his stand, in
actuality the Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse has been working with a
program in the New Orleans public schools for two years now at no cost to
the school district.

Furthermore, as a survey conducted my MultiQuest for CADA last spring
reported, 84 percent of respondents polled in Orleans and surrounding
parishes supported drug testing in our public schools and 78 percent said
they would allow their children to be tested.

While I do agree with Mr. Cook that alcohol and tobacco pose a tremendous
health problem for today's youth and that education and prevention should
be stressed, the fact is that drug testing can play a vital role in
providing the incentive not to use drugs in the first place.

John D. King
Executive director
Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse for Greater New Orleans
New Orleans