DEBATE CONTINUES ON SCHOOL DRUG TESTS

WASHINGTON - Sixteen-year-old Garrett Dush says he doesn't take drugs
and wouldn't mind being tested for them at school under a program
being championed by President Bush.

But Garrett's father, Cris Dush, is concerned about how his son, a
high school sophomore from Brookville, Pa., or other students would be
selected for testing.

"It'd have to be random," says Cris Dush, who works at a state prison
outside of Brookville, about 80 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. "If the
kid is going to feel targeted . . . I wouldn't want that."

The idea of steering America's kids clear of drugs has broad support.
But the $23 million White House plan to increase testing in schools is
drawing criticism from some parents, school administrators and
civil-liberties activists.

Bush's plan, unveiled last week in his State of the Union speech,
would expand an almost $2 million program that last year financed drug
testing in eight school districts. A Supreme Court case in 2002 upheld
the authority of schools to test students who participate in
extracurricular activities, like sports teams.

"The aim here is not to punish children but to send them this message:
'We love you, and we don't want to lose you,' " Bush said. Word can
still get out, according to some administrators as well as critics.
That's troubling to civil-liberties groups, who say children who need
help could end up in jail instead.

"They're saying this is to help, not punish," said Ethan Nadelmann,
executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance in New York, which
fiercely guards against government privacy violations and questions
the effectiveness of drug testing. "But it always starts with that.
And inevitably, the next shoe to drop is: 'We need to punish people in
order to help people.' "

In Nelson County, Ky., all high school athletes in fall sports were
tested for drugs at the beginning of the school year, followed by two
more rounds of tests for randomly selected athletes. This spring,
students involved in other extracurricular activities also will start
random testing, said Karen Johnson, the school district's director of
federal grants. "It's been accepted very well," Johnson said. The
county received $284,203 from the federal government last year to help
pay for drug testing.

Students who test positive are temporarily pulled off their team and
receive counseling from a school adviser, Johnson said. Police are not
called, and students rarely, if ever, risk being suspended or expelled
from school, she said. Already, Republican lawmakers, led by Rep. John
Peterson of Pennsylvania, are pushing legislation they envision could
let school districts randomly test all students in grades eight
through 12 - not just those in after-school activities.