HOME DRUG TEST KITS CALLED THREATS TO RELATIONSHIPS

An over-the-counter, home-based drug test marketed to parents who want
to find out if their offspring are using street drugs is sounding alarm
bells among those who work to combat substance abuse here and
nationally.

"This is an incredibly offensive and extreme measure that I personally
find very disturbing," said Richard Garlick, spokesperson for the
Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse (CCSA) in Ottawa. The national
non-profit organization offers education, information and support for
community-based drug treatment organizations.

Garlick, who hadn't heard of the test before the Star contacted him, is
concerned that it will destroy the already-shaky foundation between most
parents and teenagers.

The KnowNow Multiple Drug Detection test works on a similar premise as a
home-based pregnancy test. Six test strips, one for each drug class
tested, are dipped into collected urine and after five minutes, a pink
band may or may not appear on the end of the test's strips.

If a band does appear, it means no drug has been found.

Up to six drug classes that include the illicit drugs marijuana,
cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, amphetamine and PCP are tested.

Mark Kelly, a Whitehorse street youth outreach worker, agrees with
Garlick's concerns about the damaging effects the tests will have on the
relationship between parents and their teenagers. He's also quick to
highlight the glaring "misinformation" in the test's pamphlet, which
accompanies the kit. "They are just wrong," Kelly said of Novopharm, the
company that designed and sells the test and pamphlet.

He points out that the test's pamphlet lists heroin as "the most
dangerous and addictive of the narcotic drugs" - something he calls
"incorrect".

There is no conclusive evidence that points to just one narcotic drug as
being the most addictive, said Kelly.

He also raises issue with the pamphlet's grouping of marijuana and
hashish with LSD and PCP.

"To the best of my knowledge, no one I've ever known has hallucinated
after smoking pot," he said. "Those are completely different drugs, and
they shouldn't be classed together."

He notes that the RCMP's Drug Awareness Service groups marijuana and
hashish in its own illicit drug category - cannabis. Even with the
"inaccuracies" included in the pamphlet, it's the adverse effects the
test will cause parents and teenagers that concern Kelly the most.

"This will alienate kids from parents; it's that simple," he said.

He explains that both a "clean" or non-drug using teenager and a
drug-using teenager would feel alienated if they're asked to take the
test by their parent. This feeling often leads to a breakdown in trust
between the parent and teenager, said Kelly.

It's a concern echoed by Garlick as well.

"Healthy parent and teenager relationships are built on open, trusting
dialogues. A test like this doesn't do anything to build that type of
positive relationship," said Garlick.

The test is only available in Whitehorse from the Real Canadian
Superstore pharmacy, and costs about $20.

That store refused comment about its marketing of the test.

Peter Greenlaw, a local RCMP officer who works in the Drug Awareness
division, is joining the chorus of concern raised over the test.

"As a parent and as an RCMP officer, this is not something that I
support," he said. The father of two notes that any parent who asks a
child to take the test would essentially be accusing him or her of
experimenting with drugs.

"If you accuse anyone, you immediately put them on the defensive, and
nothing healthy can come of that."

As an RCMP officer, Greenlaw notes that most home-based tests aren't
that reliable. That could may lead to a breakdown in communication
between parents and teens if the test reads a positive result, when in
fact the young person is drug-free.