THINK TWICE BEFORE USING DRUG TESTS ON STUDENTS

Porter Township Schools should think twice before imposing drug tests
on students. The invasive tests might compel marijuana users to switch
to harder drugs to avoid testing positive. Despite a short-lived high,
marijuana is the only illegal drug that stays in the human body long
enough to make urinalysis a deterrent.

Marijuana's organic metabolites are fat-soluble and can linger for
days. More dangerous synthetic drugs are water-soluble and exit the
body quickly. A student who takes methamphetamine or OxyContin on a
Friday night will likely test clean on Monday morning. If you think
drug users don't know this, think again. Anyone capable of running an
Internet search can find out how to thwart a drug test.

Drug testing profiteers do not readily volunteer this information, for
obvious reasons. The most commonly abused drug and the one most
closely associated with violent behavior is almost impossible to
detect with urinalysis. That drug is alcohol, and it takes far more
student lives each year than all illegal drugs combined.

Instead of wasting money on counterproductive drug tests, schools
should invest in reality-based drug education.

Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy,

Washington, D.C.