DRUG CZAR FAVORS TESTING TEENS

If school boards institute random drug testing in the public schools,
the use of illegal drugs among teens would be sharply reduced, said
John Walters, the director of National Drug Control Policy.

President Bush's drug czar has called for catching alcohol and drug
abuse early in the teen population, particularly by instituting random
drug testing.

Random drug screening is an effective measure that local school boards
should consider adopting, said John Walters, addressing the National
Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors on Friday in Bal
Harbour.

"[Random drug testing in public high schools] would dramatically
change the face of substance abuse immediately," Walters said. Such a
policy has been effective in the workforce and the military, he said.

"The question is: Why not apply this to young people?"

While public schools have free rein to conduct random drug tests at
the high-school level, only two counties in Florida have opted to do
so: Polk and Marion.

In 1998, then Miami-Dade School Board member Renier Diaz de la
Portilla tried to launch a drug-testing pilot program in schools, but
that effort failed.

"We haven't discussed that recently," said John Schuster, a spokesman
for Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Diaz de la Portilla's move would have paid for testing 5,000 high
school students whose parents requested the tests.

But the School Board passed a watered-down version of the program,
which required consent from the students.

Walters said it's "common sense" to focus on young people, who are
more likely to experiment with drugs or alcohol.

Instead of seeing the tests as a punishment to the students, testing
should be viewed as a "public tool," he said.

"I think this is a new area," Walters said. "There has been a lot of
misunderstanding about drug testing in schools," he said, adding that
he wants to spark school board-level discussion about testing and not
push for a federal mandate.