LAWS CAN HELP SCHOOLS FIGHT DRUGS, EXPERT SAYS

A national leader for drug-free schools recommended Thursday that
Oklahoma legislators pass laws that empower administrators to battle
drugs.

Anything you can do to help school administrators, you should do it,"
David G. Evans said when asked about what kind of laws are needed for
schools to conduct drug testing. Evans, executive director of the
Drug- Free Schools Coalition in Flemington, N.J., met Thursday with a
House-Senate committee that is studying drug testing of students in
schools.

Oklahoma has no specific law on drug testing of students.

Some schools have a drug-testing policy, but no one is sure how many,
Jo Pettigrew, executive director of United Suburban Schools
Association, said earlier this month.

Evans told the committee Thursday that the testing cost is
minimal.

"We spend more money on a football face mask than a drug test," Evans
said.

A face mask for one football player costs about $700, while a drug
test for one student costs between $3 and $10, Evans said.

Besides drug testing, a school should have a program for educating
students, parents and teachers on drugs and a program to provide help
for students with drug problems, Evans said.

"There's no sense in having drug testing, coming up with a positive
result and doing nothing with it. You've got to help the kid," Evans
said.

The New Jersey school where his daughter attends has been conducting
random testing of athletes, he said.

That school's governing board voted recently to expand drug testing to
students in other extracurricular activities and to test students who
have parking permits.

Studies have shown that New Jersey has a heroin problem among
teen-agers, particularly girls, he said.

Marijuana is stronger than it was years ago, he said, adding that 3
million people smoke marijuana daily in the United States.

"The risk of drug abuse doubles on teens who aren't in drug-free
schools," Evans said.

Studies have shown that a key factor in getting a young person to
avoid drugs "is the belief it will harm them," he said.

Last session, the Oklahoma Legislature considered legislation to set
standards for drug and alcohol testing of students in extracurricular
activities in public schools. The legislation died.

Evans said he didn't know if there are any particular policies
regarding testing of school employees.

Some states do require a pre-employment drug test, he said. Josh
O'Brien, spokesman for the Oklahoma Education Association, said some
school districts require teachers to be tested before they are hired.