PARENTS PAY TO DRUG TEST CHILDREN

Parents are buying do-it-yourself drug-testing kits over the Internet or paying up to $150 for laboratory tests for their children as concern mounts over skyrocketing drug use at school.

Yesterday the School Trustees Association endorsed the practice among secondary schools to urine-test students who had been caught with marijuana.

The tests are seen as a last chance for students to stay at school. Previously, they might have been expelled for using or supplying drug. But legal experts advocate caution, saying the practice may contravene the Bill of Rights.

Drug educator Jeff McIntyre recommended that parents used hospital pathology laboratories, which, for about $50 could test for drugs including cannabis and cocaine.

Some parents are resorting to mail order kits obtained over the Internet. The Dominion found several kits on the Internet with one company offering a test to screen for five common drugs for US$27.95 (NZ$62.10) plus postage.

Mr McIntyre said parents were not panicking unnecessarily. Most who resorted to testing had found that their children had been using drugs for more than a year. Institute of Environmental Science and Research tests costing about $150 were probably not necessary.

Some Whangarei schools introduced urine tests about 18 months ago for students found with cannabis. Forty-four students had been regularly screened, with four testing positive.

Some Wellington schools, among them Upper Hutt College and Onslow College, were reported testing students who had agreed they should not be allowed back to school till their tests were clean.

School Trustees Association president Owen Edgerton said the idea was great as long as the emphasis was on keeping them at school. "A few years ago people were just thrown out. This is a good positive way of dealing with it."

Though students had to give their permission to be drug tested, Victoria University Bill of Rights expert Anthony Shaw said the practice raised concerns under the Bill of Rights whether or not permission had been given freely. "A coerced consent is not a valid consent," he said. Schools testing students for suspected drug use would almost certainly be contravening students' rights, he said.

Council for Civil Liberties chairman Tony Ellis said testing seemed fair and a good alternative to expulsion. However, schools could not legally have blanket policies that meant children were automatically expelled for drug use.