EASTON'S EMBARRASSING LESSON

Testing debacle: Faulty drug testing policy abandoned by authorities and
none too soon.

DOES ANYTHING threaten our children more profoundly than illegal drug use?

Undoubtedly.

But our system demands that we find ways to deal with problems in ways that
don't threaten constitutional guarantees: due process, protection from
illegal searches and seizures, for example.

These issues came into play last January when Easton High School officials
decided to herd 18 Eastern Shore students into the school's auditorium and
demand urine samples. What happened seemed right out of "Dr. Strangelove,"
the movie, or some caricature of amateur police-state tactics.

Acting on a report that these students had attended a party where drugs and
alcohol were used, authorities told the alleged miscreants they would be
suspended or expelled if they did not agree to be tested.

Despite plenty of reports about the legal complexities of drug testing,
samples were analyzed with kits comparable to those used in home pregnancy
testing. Here was a disaster in the making.

A boy whose test indicated drug use was taken from the building while his
classmates watched. He was reinstated after a private drug test showed the
school's analysis had been flawed.

The case was made to order for the American Civil Liberties Union. Under a
court ruling, the county will pay damages to students whose rights were
violated.

An official of the ACLU says drug testing in schools is relatively rare,
but the Talbot County case might cause other school systems to review
policies. Well it might.

In most cases, he said, officials conclude the testing approach is
expensive, ineffective in stopping drug use and subject to abuse.

School officials should use this event to herald the rights of people
living in a free society. In a sense, that lesson will help them in the
formation of good citizens, men and women who cherish their freedoms --
freedoms which will, in the long run at least, make it worthwhile to avoid
illegal drugs.