AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES BEST DRUG DETERRENT

Students in extracurricular activities are the least likely to take drugs.
This is common sense and is documented in research by the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Indiana
Prevention Resource Center and others.

Rather than spend $500,000 over the next four years on drug-testing
students who participate in extracurricular activities, invest the money in
books, teachers and technology. Schools already have means to educate,
search and prosecute drug users. They need to use existing resources, such
as lock-downs, searches and drug-sniffing dogs.

We need to get at the root of the problems that cause students to seek
drugs. Parents should police their children, know where they are, what they
are doing and who their friends are, and give their children daily
structure. The community should not be discouraging extracurricular
activities, no matter how much federal grant money comes to pay for drug
testing.

Bobett Kelley

Fort Wayne