BRITISH STUDENTS TESTED FOR DRUGS

A British school has launched a pilot program where students as young
as 11 are subjected to random drug tests -- a project that has
generated interest in Washington and fed a civil liberties debate on
both sides of the Atlantic.

The Abbey School in this southeastern market town is testing students
by mouth swab for traces of heroin, cocaine and marijuana. Parents
must give permission for the testing, and even then students can refuse.

Former headmaster Peter Walker, who started the program, gave up his
school job to become Britain's official ambassador for drug testing.
He recently went to Washington to give a presentation to John Walters,
director of the White House drug policy office.

Since the program began in January 2005, only one out of nearly 600
students has tested positive for marijuana -- a record Walker
attributes to students steering clear of drugs because of the tests.

"I've got nothing to hide," says Daniel Kelly, 14, who was plucked out
of class to have his mouth swabbed and saliva tested for drugs. He
doesn't mind the testing, saying that since it applies to most
students: "It's not as if I'm the only one."

Critics say the tests violate students' privacy and could open the
door to lawsuits. As the program expands, some say children will find
their rights to object to the tests eroded.

Rights activists say drug testing in schools is another infringement
on privacy in Britain, where closed-circuit television cameras are
ubiquitous and lawmakers are debating identity cards that would store
biometric data such as fingerprints or iris scans.

Liberty, one of Britain's largest civil rights groups, says testing
could wrongly turn students into suspects if they refuse.