CHANCES OF FALSE POSITIVE TOO HIGH

My applause to the enlightened Galena High School parents who voted
against mandatory random drug testing.

The legal issues here, although disturbing, are not my area of
expertise and I'll refrain from comment. As an analytical chemist
whose career was largely devoted to drug analysis, I do feel qualified
to make the following comments:

Drug testing is not something that should be placed in the hands of
bureaucratic amateurs. All screening tests can produce false positives
and, depending on the manufacturer, some more than others. Rather than
counseling, a positive result for a screening test requires a more
rigorous confirmatory test, usually GCMS. Additionally, there are
tests to confirm the integrity of the sample to check for
adulteration, dilution for example.

I seriously doubt that all of this, if done right, can be achieved for
$40. For such testing to hold up, it should be performed in an
accredited laboratory where control results are included. The
possibility that even one student could have a young life upended with
a false positive result is enough for me as a Galena parent to vote no.

Marian Pettibone

Reno