SCHOOL DRUG TESTS DISMISSED

TESTING Australian schoolchildren for drugs would waste more than
$350 million a year and unnecessarily set students against teachers,
a year-long study has found.

In its findings released today, the Australian National Council on
Drugs said there was insufficient evidence to show drug testing at
the nation's schools would have any benefits.

"It wouldn't be reliable, it would be very costly and it's
ineffective," said the council's executive director, Gino Vumbaca.

"It has to be remembered that students bonding with schools depends
on trust and nurturing relationships. Drug testing is only likely to
break that down."

The study followed calls by anti-drug lobbyists to introduce
compulsory urine or saliva tests in schools. The former British prime
minister, Tony Blair, floated a similar proposal for British students.

The study estimated it would cost $355 million to conduct a single
saliva test for each student a year and $302 million for a single
urine test each.

Even random testing of one in 10 of the nation's 3.3 million students
each school term would run up a bill of $110 million and the costs
would run into the billions of dollars if the tests were weekly.

The council commissioned the National Centre for Education and
Training on Addiction to weigh evidence from around the world on
drug-testing effectiveness and to undertake extensive consultations
with school organisations, state educational authorities, teachers,
parents, community groups and students.

The principal author of the report, Ann Roche, said the only evidence
for drug testing as a deterrent to student use came from the US, and
was quite limited.

One study showed more than a quarter of students were angered by or
distressed at being tested.

"The accuracy of test was another issue we looked at carefully,"
Professor Roche said.

"Certainly we had concerns about false positive readings. Falsely
accusing a child of illicit drug use could obviously have negative
legal and social impacts ... to say nothing of potential psychological damage."

The study found illegal drug use in Australian schools has fallen
over the past decade. Cannabis was the most common illicit drug, but
less than 4 per cent now smoked it regularly and less than 1 per cent
used other drugs, making detection a technically challenging task.

The study also found that students with more spending money were more
likely to use illicit drugs. Students with a "disposable income" of
up to $60 a week were 60 per cent more likely to have used a drug in
the past year than those with less than $20 to spend, it found.

Drug Free Australia, which has been pushing for drug tests at
schools, yesterday questioned the study's findings and disputed its
cost estimates.

"Ask teachers and parents, drugs are a major problem and testing will
help to solve it," said its executive officer, Jo Baxter.

But Garth Popple, an executive member of the national centre on
addiction, said alcohol abuse was the major drug issue facing
teenagers, with data showing one in five 16- and 17-year-olds was
regularly binge drinking to harmful levels. In any given week,
167,000 students aged 13 to 17 drank at harmful levels.

"Alcohol is a major drug problem in this country ...," he said.

"Drug testing in schools is not going to address this issue."