DON'T WASTE MONEY ON UNFAIR, INEFFECTIVE TESTS

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Regarding the March 7 editorial, "Testing for Drugs":

Before expressing approval of drug tests in schools, you would have been
wise to educate yourselves on the subject. Both hair tests and urinalysis
are highly problematic. Urinalysis is virtually useless when it comes 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.

A student who uses heroin, crack, or ecstasy on a Friday night will test
clean on Monday morning, whereas marijuana use might lead to a positive
test. If you think students don't know this already, think again. Anyone
capable of running a search on the Internet can find out how to thwart a
urine test.

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. So
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 blacks already bear the brunt of anti-drug enforcement.

Schools might want to consider educating students on the Constitution's
Bill of Rights -- the unreasonable search-and-seizure clause needs
refreshing -- rather than spending dollars on tests that are either
counterproductive or inherently racist.

Robert Sharpe
Washington