RANDOM DRUG TESTS ARE A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY

Regarding Teresa Puschnig's Feb. 22 column, the U.S. Supreme Court
made a terrible mistake when it created an exemption to the
Constitution and ruled in favor of allowing drug tests for students
in extracurricular activities. Student involvement in after-school
activities like sports has been shown to reduce drug use. Sports keep
kids busy during the hours they are most likely to get into trouble.
Forcing students to undergo degrading urine tests as a prerequisite
will only discourage participation.

Drug testing may also compel marijuana users to switch to harder
drugs to avoid testing positive. Despite a short-lived high,
marijuana is the only illegal drug that stays in the human body long
enough to make urinalysis a deterrent. Marijuana's organic
metabolites are fat-soluble and can linger for days. More dangerous
synthetic drugs like methamphetamine and prescription pharmaceuticals
are water-soluble and exit the body quickly. If you think drug users
don't know this, think again. Anyone capable of running an Internet
search can find out how to thwart a drug test.

Drug testing profiteers do not readily volunteer this information,
for obvious reasons. 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.

Students who want to help end the intergenerational culture war
otherwise known as the war on some drugs should contact Students for
Sensible Drug Policy at www.SchoolsNotPrisons.com.

Robert Sharpe,

MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy