DRUG TESTS FAIL THE TEST

The decision of Tulia Independent School District board members to resume
drug testing as a prerequisite for extracurricular activities may backfire.

Student involvement in extracurricular activities has been shown to reduce
drug use. Forcing students to undergo degrading drug tests as a
prerequisite will only discourage extracurricular activity. It may also
compel users of relatively harmless marijuana to switch to harder drugs to
avoid positive drug tests.

Marijuana is the only drug that stays in the human body long enough to make
urinalysis a deterrent. Because marijuana metabolites are fat-soluble, they
can linger for weeks.

Harder drugs like Ecstasy and heroin are water-soluble and exit the human
body within a few days - sooner if the user chooses to flush his or her
system with water.

If you think students don't know this, think again. Anyone capable of
running a search on the Internet can find out how to thwart a drug test.

Why is this relevant? Because the growing use of Ecstasy in America is in
part a result of drug testing. A student who takes Ecstasy on Friday night
will likely test clean on Monday morning.

Ironically, the least dangerous recreational drug is the only one whose use
is discouraged by testing. Drug testing profiteers do not readily volunteer
this information, for obvious reasons.

Finally, I would like to point out that the most commonly abused drug and
the one most often associated with violent behavior is almost impossible to
detect with urinalysis. That drug is alcohol, and it takes far more student
lives every year than all other drugs combined.

ROBERT SHARPE

Program Officer

The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation

Washington, D.C.