HOW TO TEST YOUR CHILDREN FOR DRUGS

PARENTS will be able to run their own tests on children they suspect of
taking illegal drugs with a mail-order home forensic kit available in
Australia from today.

The tests, similar to those performed by forensic investigators, are as
simple as pressing the trigger on an aerosol can and waiting for a chemical
reagent to show up traces of drugs.

Detect Now, which has been available to parents in the US for the past
year, is being sold in Australia for $59.95 a kit.

The kits are used overseas by police and customs officers.

Separate kits for cannabis, cocaine, heroin and ecstasy are available.

The tester swipes surfaces that might have been used for drug preparation,
such as coffee tables, desks, mirrors and foils.

The aerosol is sprayed on the swipes which produces a colour indicator when
drug residue is present.

Parents of teenagers, as well as managers wanting to maintain a drug-free
workplace, are expected to be the main users of the product.

Drugscreen managing director Lisa Korn, herself a parent of teenagers, said
the kit was a first step for concerned parents to be used before
confronting teenagers and seeking rehabilitation.

She said parents would need to choose a kit depending on which drug they
suspected their child might be using.

"Like many thousands of families out there, I'm extremely concerned about
the rising occurrence of drug use by our teenagers," Ms Korn said.

She denied the product was an invasion of privacy.

"In my view, this is not about trust," she said.

"Detect Now is designed to help parents identify if their child is being
exposed to drugs or drug use so they can make the difficult first step
towards communication and rehabilitation.

"This is about parents taking responsibility for their teenagers' health.

"I think the benefits of the product far outweigh the negatives, if one
parent can save one child from addiction."

Australian Council of Civil Liberties spokesman Terry O'Gorman said the kit
was a "totally inappropriate" way of addressing drugs concerns. "We think
it's a gimmick that's exploiting the concerns that parents have as to
whether their children might be accessing drugs," he said.

"It's contrary to the privacy rights that young people would expect to
enjoy. Going down this path is totally destructive of the parent-child
relationship."

He said the Federal Government's drugs commercials provided a better
central message of talking to children about drugs.

"Talking to kids is much more effective than for a parent to act like a
policeman towards a child," he said.

LINKS www.drugscreen.com.au

HOW THE KIT WORKS

* DRUG kit is available to order on the Internet and is delivered in six to
eight weeks

* KITS are availaible to test for cannabis, cocaine, heroin or ecstasy

* COLLECTION paper is wiped across surface suspected to contain residue

* COFFEE tables, desks, car steering wheels, rubbish bins and bedside
tables are the best surfaces to test

* AEROSOL spray is then sprayed directly onto the paper

* CHEMICAL reagent causes paper to change colour if residue is present