DRUG TESTING INEFFECTIVE

Regarding the May 11 story "Random drug tests coming to
schools":

The school board may have approved researching a program for testing
student's urine for drugs without probable cause of drug use. But it's
not too late for Rowan-Salisbury parents who view such practices with
disdain to speak up and "just say no."

It's clear most parents object to the idea of coercing such bodily
fluid samples from their teenagers. Only 19 percent of public schools
have drug testing policies and just a third of those -- about 6
percent of all schools -- do such "random" testing without probable
cause.

The reason? Quite simply, random testing of students' urine has no
measurable effect on illicit drug use by the student populations
tested. University of Michigan researchers concluded in 2003 that
students' drug use in testing schools and nontesting schools were
"virtually identical."

More important, demanding urine samples without cause essentially
tells our drug-free teenagers that their word cannot be trusted. Is
this the kind of relationship that we as parents want to promote
between ourselves, school administrators and our kids?

Based on the 94 percent of schools that are rejecting random urine
testing of students, it's clear that the answer most parents respond
with is a firm "no." For additional relevant information, interested
parents and school officials might consider visiting
http://www.drugtestingfails.org.

Stephen Heath

Clearwater, Fla.