DRUG-TESTING AT SCHOOLS IS NOT A CASUAL PROCEDURE

The use of illegal drugs by students is a problem in many places, and we'd
guess that some students at Madison Central take drugs regularly while
others have just tried them.

We know drugs can lead to serious health, social, financial and criminal
problems. We'd like to see them eradicated.

Some people may believe drug-testing will catch the users or the
possibility of being caught may reduce drug use. They may be right.

But there are serious issues with drug-testing that the school board will
learn. They include:

- -- Invasion of privacy. There is not legal certainty that schools can test
for drugs without suspicion that a student is using them. Think of a drug
test as a search warrant. Officials can't search your home without good
reasons for doing so.

- -- False positives. Drug-testing is not flawless. Imagine the consequences
of a law-abiding student falsely testing positive for drugs. That
accusation could seriously harm the student permanently.

- -- Other medications. What about prescription medications or
over-the-counter medicines? Would a student need to describe what
medications they are taking to a tester (to avoid being tagged as an
illegal drug user) when that information is normally part of the
confidential relationship between a patient and doctor?

- -- Alcohol. Most observers believe alcohol use is the real problem in high
schools. A drug-testing program would not likely help in this area.

The school board did the right thing by asking for more information. When
they get that information, they may discover this idea is well-intentioned
but has too many negative consequences.