ALCOHOL IS MOST PERVASIVE DRUG

To the Editor:

Regarding Joe Burns' Aug. 18 story on drug testing ("Parents can test kids
with drug kits"), parents should think twice before asking their kids to
urinate on demand. 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. Synthetic drugs are water-soluble and exit the body quickly. A
teenager who takes methamphetamine, OxyContin or heroin Friday night will
likely test clean Monday morning. If you think teenagers 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
young lives each year than all illegal drugs combined.

Robert Sharpe,

MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, DC