DRUG TESTS IN SCHOOLS FAIL ON MOST BASIC LEVEL

When the Supreme Court ruled in 1995 that high schools had the
constitutional right to make student-athletes undergo drug tests, the
reasoning, in large part, was that the invasion of privacy was warranted
because of the importance of the issue at hand.

Writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia said it was "self-evident"
that drug testing would stem student drug use. Last year, the high court
expanded its ruling to include not just students taking part in
school-sponsored sports, but in any extracurricular activity. The reasoning
was the same.

Those whose gut told them at the time that such thinking was wrong now have
more than feelings to go on. An extensive study of schools across the nation
has provided undeniable evidence that testing students for drug use does not
deter youngsters from using drugs.

The study was exceedingly broad, surveying 76,000 students in 722 middle and
high schools. And the results were clear. Testing students for drugs doesn't
reduce drug use. Period.

Whether looking at the use of marijuana or heroin, whether looking at
students in eighth or 10th or 12th grades, drug testing was completely
ineffective. It came with great costs - both in money spent and in privacy
lost - and with no benefit.

Advocates of drug testing in schools have been hoping to expand existing
policies, with the most fervent looking for programs that would test
students across the board. The results of the extensive study should go a
long way toward deflating their arguments.

The best way to keep students from using drugs is to educate them. But the
information they are given must be honest and accurate. Scare tactics won't
work on kids whose sources of information literally span the globe.

The study was funded partly by the federal government and partly by a
foundation that favors drug testing, so no one should be able to suggest
that it was the work of partisan hands.

The survey may not sway the thinking of anyone on the Supreme Court, but
school districts should heed the results of the study.

There were already many reasons to oppose drug testing in schools. Add to
that list a significant one: It simply doesn't work.