DRUG TESTING IN N.J. SCHOOLS

An Inhibiting Change

A proposed new rule requiring New Jersey public schools to use
state-licensed labs to conduct random drug tests on students may be
well intended, but isn't worth the cost to districts trying to make
ends meet.

About 20 school districts in New Jersey are randomly testing students,
but most use school nurses to conduct the procedure. That keeps the
cost to $10 to $12 per test. Using a state-approved lab could more
than double the cost of each test.

The state Department of Health has requested the new rules, which
would require school districts to either transport students to a
state-approved lab, contract with a lab to do on-site tests, or obtain
a state license to conduct drug tests.

The proposed rules, scheduled for adoption in October, will be
discussed at a state Board of Education public hearing today. Bertha
Madras, deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy, is expected to testify.

Madras, in an interview with the Newark Star-Ledger, said using school
nurses has worked just fine. She said that at about 500 school
districts across the nation, nurses collected and tested samples.

State officials understandably want to ensure the reliability of test
results. They don't want any student wrongly accused of using drugs.

But a system in which initial test results indicating the presence of
drugs must be verified by a state-approved lab seems to be a proper,
less expensive safeguard.

Random drug testing is not required of New Jersey schools, although
the New Jersey Inter-Scholastic Athletic Association does have a
steroid-testing program.

Civil liberties questions are often raised about random drug tests
conducted at workplaces and in other situations. The main priority in
schools should be to help students: to identify those who have a drug
problem and refer them for treatment.

Doing that should not lay such financial burdens on school districts
that they won't even consider a program that includes testing and referral.