PARENTS OFFERED DRUG-TEST KITS

COPPELL - A local group wants to give teens something to think about when
friends offer them drugs or alcohol: a plastic urine cup and breath test
when they get home.

The Assistance League of Coppell recently started handing out free drug-
and alcohol-testing kits to parents in a unique approach to a common problem.

"A lot of kids are saying they know it's not good to do drugs," said Heidi
Milosevich, a member of the service club. "They're looking for a reason
without having to say, 'I'm just so uncool I don't want to.'"

The drug test "gives the child an easy out," said Cindy Geppert, another
league member. "We talked about this with our own child, and asked, 'Would
this help?' and he said yes."

The community service group bought 100 drug-testing kits in April. So far,
about 40 have been distributed, all anonymously.

Although some stores sell drug-test kits, they're rarely given away.
Representatives of Irving-based Mothers Against Drunk Driving and New
York-based Partnership for a Drug-Free America said they're not aware of
similar programs.

A group called drug free america inc. in Palm Beach County, Fla., gives
away drug-testing kits. And some nonprofit groups sell them at reduced rates.

Assistance League members said they got the idea after hearing a Plano
emergency-room doctor give a talk about heroin deaths in that city, where
several teens have died from heroin overdoses in recent years.

The problem hit closer to home when a Coppell teen died of a heroin
overdose in 1998. League members, most of them parents themselves, say they
want to prevent more tragedies.

In 1998, they formed the nonprofit service club, a chapter of the national
group of the same name. Many of the members also are involved in the
Coppell Substance Abuse Commission, which also formed that year.

In addition to drugs, the organization is concerned about alcohol. A 1998
survey by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse found that 72
percent of secondary students reported they had used alcohol.

Results from the free drug tests come on the spot, unlike some at-home
tests that have to be sent to a lab. The kit, from Compliance Consortium
Corporation in Belton, Texas, includes a urine cup and a credit card-size
plastic dip stick that signals traces of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin,
PCP or marijuana.

It also contains a plastic tube that detects alcohol. If someone who has
been drinking blows into the tube, the crystals inside will change color.
The league cautions that other substances can interfere with the drug tests
and skew the results. A list is available through the league and the
manufacturer.

Besides the test, the league's kit comes with brochures on various drugs,
including inhalants, and places to call for help.

While some parents like the idea of drug tests, others say they fear it
could hurt trust between a parent and teen.

"As a parent, I would never use something like that. I think it implies
distrust," said Margaret Collins, executive director of MADD's Metroplex
Chapter.

Ms. Collins said she was speaking as a parent and that MADD takes no
official position on the issue.

"If I was suspicious and thought the kid had a problem, I would talk to
them," she said.

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America leaves it up to parents to decide
what's best.

"It certainly could be effective, but we worry about the context in which
parents would introduce it," vice president Steve Dnistrian said.

Coppell Assistance League members have heard the concerns.

"I've heard some kids say, 'Well, that means you don't trust us.' But it's
not a matter of trust. It's a matter of parents trying to keep their kids
safe," league president Leslie Shindler said. "To keep your children safe,
I don't think that's infringing on anybody's rights."

Valley Ranch resident Debbie Pitman said she's "totally in favor" of drug
tests, which may help parents detect problems early. Ms. Pitman serves on
the board of Plano-based Starfish Foundation, which formed to fight teen
substance abuse after that city's rash of heroin deaths.

Ms. Pitman's daughter, Jessica, recently went through treatment for a drug
problem that Ms. Pitman said she didn't catch until it was an addiction.

The Coppell group has distributed the kits at safety fairs and other
community events and also has given some to the Coppell Police Department's
victims' assistance unit.

"Drugs are everywhere, and we can't deny that, so we might as well be
upfront and do something to educate the community," said Lori Walker,
victims' assistance coordinator for the Coppell Police Department, who also
serves on the Coppell Substance Abuse Commission.

Statistics on substance abuse

The Assistance League of Coppell is distributing free drug-testing kits to
parents to combat the high number of teens using alcohol and drugs. Here
are some of the most-recent statistics:

72 percent of Texas middle and high school students reported having used
alcohol.

50 percent of high school seniors in a national survey said they had used
marijuana in the last month.

10 percent of high school seniors nationwide said they had used cocaine in
the last month.

20 percent of youths nationwide reported using inhalants at least once.

3 percent of teens nationwide said they tried heroin in 1999, down from 4
percent in 1997 and 1998.

640 Texans younger than 21 died in alcohol-related incidents in 1998 - five
times the number of deaths linked to use of illicit drugs.

More than 10 percent of secondary students said they had attended class at
least once while drunk in the last year.

For more information about the Assistance League, call 972-393-4149.

SOURCES: Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, Partnership for a Drug-Free America.