STATE PTA BACKS BAN ON RANDOM DRUG TESTING

SACRAMENTO - Across America, the PTA has long fought to prevent student
drug use, but last month its California leaders found themselves sparring
with federal drug officials in the state Capitol.

The two sides squared off in an Assembly hearing over a bill that would
outlaw "suspicionless" drug testing. A handful of schools in California and
nationwide have begun testing students without any evidence of drug use,
and the PTA opposes it.

"As parents, we're certainly concerned about addressing issues of student
drug abuse," said Kathy Moffat, a spokeswoman for the California State PTA.
"But a random drug-testing program implies there is no trust."

Before the Assembly panel, Moffat read a statement explaining her
organization's support for the proposed testing ban.

From the opposite side of the hearing room, Dr. Andrea Barthwell,
then-deputy director for demand reduction in the Office of National Drug
Control Policy, delivered the White House's position in favor of testing.

Bush administration officials say suspicionless tests could be a "silver
bullet" to curtail a public health "epidemic."

Barthwell explained later that she had made the trip to the hearing to
clear up a misunderstanding. Parents, students and teachers mistakenly view
random tests as invasive, she said, but - like vision or tuberculosis
screens - they are an effective means to address a universal public health
threat.

One opponent of the bill, Assemblyman Mark Wyland (R-Escondido), said that
in some districts, violence and drug abuse get in the way of learning, and
it does not make sense to limit the tools that schools can use to fight the
problem.

The bill, written by state Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara), passed
the Senate in May on a 27-10 vote. After the hearing, the Assembly
Education Committee approved it 7 to 2; it could go to the full Assembly
before the legislative session ends in August.

With more than 1 million parent, teacher and student members, the state PTA
also opposes zero-tolerance policies under which students can be removed
from school for any violation of drug rules. The organization sees its
effort to block random drug testing as another way to protect children.

PTA officials say the money used to conduct random drug tests would be
better spent going after root causes of substance abuse with education and
treatment.

Opponents also fear that arbitrary tests could discourage students who take
birth control pills, antidepressants or other prescription medications from
participating in activities that require students to accept random drug
testing.

At least three California schools screen at random for drugs: San Clemente
High School in Orange County runs a voluntary program; Bret Harte Union
High School in Calaveras County tests athletes, cheerleaders and
scorekeepers; and Dixon High School near Sacramento tests athletes and
requires drug education for their parents each athletic season.

One Dixon parent, who spoke on condition of anonymity, complained that
initially the punishments were "ridiculously harsh" for youths caught using
drugs, but now coaches give preliminary warnings.

Her three children have taken rapid-eye screenings and urine tests for
school teams over several years. But she found it curious that the athletic
department would test for recreational drugs, but not for performance
enhancers such as steroids.

Coincidentally, state Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) has proposed a
bill that would allow schools to test athletes for steroids or other
performance-enhancing drugs. The PTA supports that idea because the tests
would require reasonable suspicion.

Among athletes, the Dixon parent believes, drug use is rare. "It's the
other half of the students the school should be worrying about," she said.

For decades, the nation's "war on drugs" focused heavily on prosecuting
offenses. But the Bush administration now portrays the problem as a
contagious disease spreading through peer pressure.

In his State of the Union address in January, President Bush asked for $25
million to help schools start random testing programs. The president's drug
czar, John Walters, sent his staff on a tour of 25 cities - including four
in California - to discuss drug abuse and promote the program.

Vasconcellos hopes his bill will block schools from reaching for federal
testing money offered by the Bush administration. "I just detest making
schools cop places," he said. "Schools are for learning, not for politics."

In June, state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer came out in support of the
Vasconcellos legislation because, he said, suspicionless testing violates
constitutional protections against unlawful search and seizure. Planned
Parenthood and the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People
also support the proposed testing ban.

In 2003, a University of Michigan study of 76,000 students in eighth, 10th
and 12th grades suggested that school drug tests did not affect rates of
illicit drug use. The fear of testing positive did not appear to discourage
new users from trying drugs.

Barthwell said that study was flawed because the drug tests were not
random. When Michigan considered only schools that tested randomly, too few
existed to provide a meaningful sample, she said.

Over the last several years, 22 school districts nationwide have abandoned
the idea of random testing, according to the Drug Policy Alliance.