DRUG TESTING DISSUADES STUDENTS FROM USING DRUGS

Robert Sharpe counsels against drug testing for students who
participate in extracurricular activities.

Perhaps some pot users will use pot less and alcohol and harder drugs
more if random drug-testing is instituted. This is but one possible
effect, made more likely by marijuana's status as a gateway drug.
Kids who regularly smoke pot are already likely to experiment with
alcohol and harder drugs (and to use these with pot).

With testing, the kids who haven't started smoking are less likely to
start, and the kids who are looking for a reason to quit have an
additional incentive.

Most important, we send the message that pot smoking is not innocent
fun and that we take seriously substance abuse of all sorts. In
short, if random drug testing increases the likelihood of kids moving
to harder drugs in order to avoid detection, it only increases the
likelihood of those kids who are already so inclined, and it protects others.

Random drug testing has to be part of a broad community approach. We
can do a better job of educating our children about the dangers of
drugs and alcohol in this critical period of brain development during
the adolescent years. We parents must talk to one another when we
discover that our children and their friends are using. Random drug
testing should be but an additional echo of the message that we will
not let drugs and alcohol derail the lives of our children.

Thomas D. Kennedy

Valparaiso