TESTS UNDERMINE FAMILY COMMUNICATION AND COHESION

There's an elephant in the living room, but no one talks about it.

Many parents and experts focus on the benefits of home drug testing:
improved communication, confidentiality, a clean lifestyle.

But other issues need to be brought to light, like the fact that the
test fosters distrust between a teenager and his or her parents.

This is the price of home drug tests. While saving someone's life is
more important than saving a failing relationship, one does wonder if
there is a better way.

Even parents who simply want to reassure themselves risk losing the
faith of their teenager over something that could reveal itself to be
a non-issue.

If anything, the test will elicit an even more potent reaction from
teens who have never done drugs but have given their parents reason to
doubt.

The elephant will continue to cast shadows over the living room until
someone gets off the couch and moves it.