BILL OF RIGHTS MORE IMPORTANT THAN DRUG WAR

Once again a politician is using drug war hysteria to manipulate the public
and appear "tough on drugs." U.S. Rep. Joe Barton's proposal to drug test
members of Congress is misguided. In this case, it's merely a waste of tax
dollars - I doubt any Congressmen will test positive. However, if drug
testing increases nationwide, hard drug use will rise and African-Americans
will be disproportionately punished.

Both hair tests and urinalysis are highly problematic. Urinalysis is
virtually useless when it come to detecting hard drugs. As such, it can
have the counterproductive effect of encouraging hard drug use when forced
upon smokers of relatively harmless marijuana. An employee who uses heroin
or crack on a Friday night will test clean on Monday morning, whereas
marijuana use might lead to a positive test. This is one of the reasons
heroin use is on the rise. Drug testing profiteers (and politicians) do not
readily volunteer this information, for obvious reasons.

The shortcomings of hair testing are far more sinister. Dark-haired
individuals are more likely to test positive when hair tests are used,
while fair-haired drug users have a good chance of escaping detection. As
such, whites are spared detection while blacks are penalized. This inherent
racial bias is reason enough to avoid using hair tests, especially in light
of the fact that African-Americans already bear the brunt of anti-drug
enforcement. I would like to think that preserving the integrity of the
Constitution's Bill of Rights is more important than preserving the failed
drug war.

Robert Sharpe
Students for Sensible Drug Policy
George Washington University