WAKE TO TEST STUDENTS FOR DRUGS

RALEIGH - Wake County will become the first school district in the Triangle
to test students for illegal drugs, using a new method being tried out this
fall as part of a federally funded pilot program.

Students suspected of using illegal drugs will be tested with kits provided
free to all Wake middle schools and high schools by a Washington, D.C.,
company that is also supplying them to a handful of other school districts
in Minnesota, New Jersey and Virginia.

"If we have drugs, we want to confirm it quickly," said Walt Sherlin,
Wake's associate superintendent for operational services. "We want to deal
with it forcefully and directly. We want students to know that we'll deal
with it."

Unlike some drug detection methods, such as urine testing, the drug
detection kits work quickly. Litmus paper is rubbed on surfaces such as
book bags or hands; then a spray is applied to the paper. If even
microscopic amounts of drugs are present, the paper changes color in seconds.

The kits won't arrive until later this month and aren't expected to be used
until October. The rules on how they'll be used are still being developed.

Corey Duber, Wake senior director for security, said students will only be
tested if there is a reasonable suspicion, such as a strong odor of
marijuana. For now, he said, he will test students only for marijuana.
Surfaces such as restroom counters will also be tested for cocaine, heroin
and methamphetamines.

Duber said the kits will be used by school personnel, not police, and will
not be used for criminal prosecution. But students could be suspended if
drug residue is detected, Duber said.

The program is raising concerns from the American Civil Liberties Union of
North Carolina. Seth Jaffe, staff attorney for the state ACLU, noted that
the original purpose of the federal program was to test the environment and
not students. Jaffe questioned the accuracy of the tests and whether they
will uncover actual drug use, because a student could have residue just
from touching something that had been in contact with drugs.

"We have strong concerns about this program being used," he said.

Jaffe said the ACLU is also concerned that school personnel have a lower
standard for testing students than the probable cause required of police.

"School personnel are held to a lower standard than law enforcement
personnel and generally receive less training than law enforcement
personnel," Jaffe said.

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the right of school officials to test
students with reasonable suspicion and to randomly test students who
participate in extracurricular activities.

Chuck Griffiths, project coordinator for the Mistral Group, which is
running the program and distributing the kits, said schools can use and
have used them to test students for drugs.

The federally funded program began in January at middle schools and high
schools in four New Jersey school districts: East Windsor Regional, Mercer
County Vocational, Southern Regional and Toms River Regional. Griffiths
said the program ran smoothly with few complaints from students and
parents, and no legal challenges. In fact, he said, some parents agreed to
take kits from school officials so they could test their kids at home.

Griffiths said there were more than 100 "hits," or positive tests, through
May, mostly for heroin and marijuana. For instance, he said, a student at a
Mercer County alternative school who was suspected of using heroin was
asked to blow his nose. School officials tested the tissue and found
evidence of the drug.

"The goal is to get zero hits," Griffiths said. "After awhile, if anything,
the kids will be scared and are less likely to bring drugs."

Though evidence of use of water-soluble drugs such as cocaine does not last
long, Griffiths said, traces of marijuana can last for two to three weeks
on any surface.

Toms River Assistant Superintendent John Gluck said the district limited
its testing this past school year to surfaces such as restroom counters,
and did not act even on positive results from those tests. He said the
district is awaiting guidance from the New Jersey Attorney General's office.

In the future, Gluck said, schools may use the kits to spray lockers, then
do searches if traces of drugs are found.

"It can be used in a general way to see what the climate of the school is
like and confirm if there's a problem," Gluck said.

Griffiths said federal officials wanted results from more than New Jersey.
The districts added to the pilot program this year were Wake, Fairfax
County in Virginia and Minneapolis. He said Wake was chosen because it was
a large school district and because he thought Duber would be receptive
because of his law enforcement background.

Griffiths said many of the New Jersey school officials tried to keep the
program quiet out of fear that it might lead the public to believe there's
a drug problem in the schools. But Wake school officials, who say there's
no drug problem, have not been reluctant about touting this new initiative.

Griffiths will meet with Duber next week and Wake principals in October. He
will initially train school security personnel in the central office before
getting to the staff at each school.

Wake has never done student drug testing before. No other Triangle school
districts test students for illegal drugs or say they're planning to do so.

Wake's new program was met with skepticism by some students interviewed
last week.

"If there's really a reason for suspecting you, I don't think it's a big
deal," said Matt Holder, 18, a Cary High School senior. "But how do you
tell if there's a reason to suspect?"

Cary High senior Nathan Hingtgen, 17, said it would be unfair to punish
students because they had residue from drugs they used at home or a few
weeks ago. "I don't smoke weed," he said, "but you shouldn't get into
trouble because you smoked it at home."