MORE SCHOOLS TEST FOR DRUGS

The number of schools testing students for drug use is rising as
legal barriers to testing have fallen, funding for it has jumped and
schools have begun to expand the categories of students who can be screened.

Since the Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that random testing of student
athletes and others in competitive extracurricular activities did not
violate the students' privacy rights, the Bush administration has
made testing middle- and high-school students a priority. In the
2005-06 school year, 373 public secondary schools got federal money
for testing, up from 79 schools two years ago, U.S. Department of
Education records show. The government has not tracked the rise of
locally funded programs as closely, but the White House estimates
that an additional 225 schools have them.

President Bush has asked Congress to increase grant money for testing
by 45% next year, to $15 million.

The number of public secondary schools with testing programs remains
a tiny percentage of the 28,000 such schools nationwide. Many
districts have been reluctant to impose drug testing, fearing they
could face challenges in state courts. Several states' constitutions
include privacy rights that go beyond what federal courts have
granted, says Graham Boyd, director of the ACLU's Drug Law Reform
Project in Santa Cruz, Calif.

However, the rise in testing suggests that such programs are "taking
off," says David Evans of the Drug-Free Schools Coalition in New
Jersey. Schools in that state recently decided to randomly test
athletes in state tournaments for about 80 substances, including
stimulants and steroids. "This happened with workplace drug testing,"
Evans says. "It started slowly and then grew."

It's unclear how many students are testing positive for drugs. The
results are secret, and schools are not required to report them to
the U.S. government. The results also may not be given to police or
used to punish students other than to remove them from
extracurricular activities. Most schools involved in testing screen
for marijuana, stimulants and opiates. More extensive tests, such as
for steroids, add to the cost. A typical test costs $42, the
Department of Education says.

A few school systems are beginning to test the legal boundaries the
Supreme Court set for screening students. This fall, nearly all 575
students in the Nettle Creek school district's secondary school in
Hagerstown, Ind., will be subject to random testing ­ not only
athletes and students in clubs, but also those who drive to campus
and anyone who wants to attend a school dance, prom or class party.

The ACLU and groups such as Students for a Sensible Drug Policy say
there is no proof that testing deters drug use. They say testing
could discourage kids from joining sports teams or after-school clubs.

White House drug czar John Walters says testing gives teens a reason
to reject peer pressure to use drugs. "It'll give a kid a suit of
armor," he says.

Teens' drug use has dipped recently, a University of Michigan study
says. However, 50% of 12th-graders surveyed last year said they had
tried an illicit drug.