DRUG CZAR TO VISIT N.O. SCHOOL THAT DRUG-TESTS STUDENTS

NEW ORLEANS - When De La Salle High School resumed drug testing
after Hurricane Katrina, officials were surprised to find that 8
percent of the student body tested positive for marijuana or other
illegal substances - the highest percentage at the Roman Catholic
school since it began testing nine years ago.

Since then, the figure has dropped to under 3 percent, the principal
says, a result that both she and the White House drug czar, who is set
to visit the school Thursday, attribute to the constant threat of
random drug testing.

"Doing drug testing is just like ordering the science books,"
principal Regina Hall said. "Again, it's like locking the door. You're
doing what's right and safe."

Not everyone agrees: the ACLU considers testing constitutionally
questionable, unproven deterrent and a waste of millions in federal
dollars that would be better spent on other programs. And a local
health care official who works with people with addiction and mental
health issues questions testing young people already stressed - and,
in some cases, self-medicating - after Katrina.

"You have a number of components we need to consider before
blanket-applying this to children," said Jerome Gibbs, executive
director of the Metropolitan Human Services District in New Orleans.

Currently, about 1,000 schools nationwide test students for drug use,
and the number is rising, according to the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy. The practice is encouraged by the Bush
administration, which last year provided $8.6 million in grants to
help public schools cover testing costs, office spokeswoman Heather
Janik said.

White House drug czar John Walters said testing reduces the number of
teens who use marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine and other drugs and
"gives them the perfect excuse to do the right thing."

As more teens in a school abstain, there is less pressure for other
students to use drugs, he said.

A study, released in December by the University of Michigan and
National Institute on Drug Abuse, found illegal drug use declined
slightly from 2005 to 2006 among eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders
surveyed at over 400 schools nationwide. It was a continuation of a
trend that began in the mid-'90s, the study said.

But the study's lead investigator said it's "extremely unlikely" that
testing contributed to the decline, since it's done at relatively few
schools. Neither Walters' office nor the U.S. Department of Education
could provide statistics on the effects of drug-testing programs in
the roughly 360 schools that receive federal dollars through the
department to help pay for the tests.

Nonetheless, Walters believe drug testing has been a "powerful
deterrent" in the schools that have used it. Some school leaders agree.

"Students get so many mixed messages on the use of drugs and alcohol
that when a school implements programs like this, there's no question
what the message is," said Lisa Brady, former principal at Hunterdon
Central Regional High School in Flemington, N.J., which she said began
testing student athletes in 1997 and has since expanded the program,
after a court challenge, to include random urine tests of students in
extracirriculars and who drive or park on campus.

"It creates a culture shift in the school," she said.

Graham Boyd, director of the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project, isn't
convinced. He questions the reliability of testing - hair tests,
particularly - and said he would rather the money the government has
set aside for drug testing be spent on after-school programs. Gibbs
said a greater emphasis should be placed on curbing the trafficking of
drugs into communities.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 2002 cleared the way for public schools to
test students in extracirricular activities. But De La Salle, a
private school, has randomly tested all students since 1998. Parents
pay an extra $50 a year to cover the cost, Hall said.

She attributes the spike in positive results during the second half of
the 2005-06 school year to a more transient student population after
Katrina and to testing having been suspended as officials focused on
getting supplies and otherwise running the school. Numbers have
dropped, she said, as testing has become routine again.

The results of the drug tests are kept confidential, are not given to
law enforcement and do not stay on a student's record, she said.