DRUG TESTING TEENS AT HOME: YES OR NO?

Gayle Brady didn't hesitate to take her daughter to the Kingston
police station for a drug test. She had an open communication with
her daughter, Caitlyn, who felt comfortable enough to talk to her
mom about the drugs she had tried.

So when the 18-year-old died of a heroin overdose in March, Gayle
was in shock.

"I was under the impression that things were starting to change,"
Gayle said. "I tried to be on top of everything that was going on. I
thought I could always be one step ahead of her.

"I tried and I tried. I really believed she was starting to make
some smart choices."

Gayle views the recent news that the Exeter Police Department is
making free home drug-testing kits available to parents as something positive.

"I think it's a good idea," she said. "They sell them at CVS; the
hard thing is getting them to take it. Caitlyn was very honest. She
did not carry the guilt; she would confess eventually."

Gayle said one of the biggest barriers facing the parent-child
relationship in regard to drug use is that a lot of parents are naive.

"Do I think drug tests would work in the home? Yes," she said. "But
parents are naive in believing otherwise. I would have never
believed that she would have done (heroin)."

On Wednesday, the Exeter Police Department started offering free
home drug-testing kits as a tool for parents to ensure their
children are safe from drugs. The kits are available at the police
station or through the Exeter High School's resource officer.

"What this is, is one tool in parenting a child," said Dawn Barnes,
a social worker with Rockingham County Human Services. Barnes has
teamed up with the Exeter Police Department on home drug testing.

"I think that obviously every parent hopes their child doesn't use
drugs and they would prefer not to have to wonder, and I think every
parent has wondered at one point," Barnes said.

She said by the police offering drug-testing kits, a discussion
between parents and their children about drugs is opened. The key to
ensuring children do not fall into damaging drug addictions is
having an open communication, Barnes said.

"Most adolescents take that as accusatory," she said about parents
drug testing their children. "If they are using drugs, they will
become defensive. Most kids are not happy about being asked to be
drug tested. Parents have to be aware of that and really use it as a
way to say, 'I'm concerned and this is a way for me to feel
comfortable that you are clean.'" "

However, the head of the New Hampshire American Civil Liberties
Union, who did not respond to requests for an interview with the
Herald Sunday, was quoted in Foster's Daily Democrat as asking, "Are
there any instructions on how to restore the trust with your child
after you've asked him or her to pee in a cup?"

Claire Ebel also expressed doubts that the results of tests given by
parents would remain confidential and questioned taxpayer money
being used in Exeter for private use

But Vic Maloney, executive director of Seacoast Youth Services in
Seabrook, said, "If I thought my kid was experimenting (with drugs),
I would certainly be testing them. I wouldn't hesitate. Kids don't
really understand what might be the consequences of drug use."

When asked if drug testing is an infringement on the child's
privacy, Maloney said, "I would just say, I love you and that's why
I'm doing it,' end of discussion. I want to be a parent and not your
friend. If more parents thought that, we wouldn't be having this discussion."

Seacoast Youth Services is a nonprofit organization that primarily
works in the SAU 21 school district on substance-abuse issues. The
group is teaming up with Seacoast Mental Health in Exeter, and will
offer an adolescent substance-abuse program.

Jackie Valley, executive director of the Community Diversion Program
in Greenland, said she is pleased that Exeter police are being
proactive. While she does not advocate drug testing because
sometimes the results are not always accurate, she said any way of
opening up communication about drugs is a positive thing.

"Anything that's being done is great," she said. "I think it's
wonderful if parents are concerned they can use this."

She said some drugs like cocaine and heroin do not stay in the
system very long, so the drug tests may not always reflect what is
actually happening in a child's life.

"What I fear is that parents will get a false sense of security
about what their kids are doing," Valley said.

She said another way of looking at these tests is that for some
children, it could be a good reason not to use drugs. If a child is
experiencing peer pressure from friends about trying drugs, they can
say they are being drug tested by their parents and therefore cannot
try the drug.

"Some kids use those drug tests as a way to say 'no' to drugs," she
said. "It can help them save face and get them out of using. That's
the best way to use those (drug tests) as far as the kids are concerned."

Regardless of whether a parent chooses to use a drug test, Valley
said it's always important for parents to have a constant open
conversation with their children about drugs and alcohol.