DRAWBACKS TO SCHOOL DRUG TESTING

TO THE EDITOR:

A federal appeals court ruled against the Tecumseh Public School District's
drug testing policy on constitutional grounds, but there are practical
reasons to oppose the invasive policy as well. Student involvement in
extracurricular activities like sports has been shown to reduce drug use.
Forcing students to undergo degrading tests as a prerequisite will only
discourage extracurricular activity. It may also compel users of relatively
harmless marijuana to switch to harder drugs to avoid testing positive.

Marijuana is the only drug that stays in the human body long enough to make
urinalysis a deterrent. Because marijuana metabolites are fat-soluble they
can linger for weeks. Harder drugs are water-soluble and exit the human
body within a few days. If you think students don't know this, think again.
Anyone capable of running a search on the Internet can find out how to
thwart a drug test.

The growing use of ecstasy is in part a result of drug testing. A student
who takes ecstasy on Friday night will likely test clean on Monday morning.
Ironically, the least dangerous recreational drug - marijuana - is the only
one whose use is discouraged by testing. Drug testing profiteers do not
readily volunteer this information, for obvious reasons. Finally, the most
commonly abused drug and the one most often associated with violent
behavior is almost impossible to detect with urinalysis. That drug is
alcohol, which takes far more student lives every year than all other drugs
combined.

Robert Sharpe, Washington, D.C.

Sharpe is a program officer with the
Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation, a group that favors
decriminalization of marijuana. The Tecumseh School Board is appealing the
court decision to which Sharpe refers.