THE IMPORTANCE OF DRUG TESTING

CHICAGO -- Drug testing is always a hotly debated topic, whether for
professional athletes, job candidates or high school students. Lately media
attention has been focused on the mandatory drug testing of high school
students who wish to participate in extracurricular activities in Tecumseh,
Okla. Although the current focus on right to privacy is a significant issue
that needs to be examined, it is also important to step back and look at the
reason drug testing exists in schools at all.

Drug and alcohol use among teens continues to be a tremendous problem in
schools across the country. Results of the 1998 University of Michigan
Monitoring the Future Study show that 35 percent of all high school
sophomores used drugs in 1998. Nearly 13 percent of 8th graders used drugs
last year, and an additional 62 percent do not view smoking marijuana as a
risky behavior.

Drug testing can help reduce the number of teen users in three ways, including:

- - Preventing some kids from experimenting with drugs.

- - Identifying those who are experimenting with alcohol or other drugs, or
who are struggling with the disease of addiction.

- - Providing kids in recovery with an additional incentive to stay straight.

No one wants to deny teens a reasonable amount of privacy, just as no one
wants to allow drug abuse to have free rein over our children. Given the
recent episodes of violence in our nation's schools, we must accept that the
cost of living in a free society is often one of compromise.

For instance, all of us give up a reasonable measure of privacy at airport
security gates because others must be assured of safety. Is it unreasonable
or unduly burdensome to ask students to give up some privacy in exchange for
a greater assurance of their safety? No, it is not. The risks of drug use by
children are life-threatening.

But we shouldn't be fooled into thinking drug testing is the answer.
Hazelden Chicago at Lombard, a treatment center that recognizes the unique
needs of young adults in recovery, views drug testing as one additional tool
among many that help adults intervene in a behavior that adversely affects
the physical, emotional and spiritual development of our children.

To end the cycle of abuse, identification of drug use must be paired with
strategies for intervention and treatment. When teens receive treatment
early, efforts to instill more positive behaviors are more successful,
developmental delays are less significant and long-term recovery from
dependency is much higher.

Peter Palanca, Executive director, Hazelden Chicago