THE TEST THAT PUPILS WANT TO FAIL

RANDOM drug testing in American schools has proved to be an expensive
failure that has not deterred drug use, research has shown.

High schools have been able to test student athletes for drugs since about
1995. Last year the Supreme Court gave schools wider powers to test pupils
involved in any competitive extra-curricular activity, including band
practice, debate and chess club.

President Bush has now called for a tenfold increase in federal spending to
increase random drug testing in schools. But high schools are already
reluctant to use their new powers. Only one in five schools in America uses
any form of drug testing, according to a study last year by the University
of Michigan. Rather than conducting random screenings, most schools that do
test for drugs do so only when they suspect drug use.

Legal attempts to end random testing have been launched in Pennsylvania,
Arkansas, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and
Washington.

Critics argue that drug testing does not deter drug use by students and is
an invasion of their civil liberties. One study found nearly identical
rates of drug use in schools that used testing and those that did not test.

But the Bush Administration says that testing is a powerful tool in the
fight against drug addiction and points to an 11 per cent fall in drug use
among students from the age of 15 in the past two years.

Those schools that do use testing have reported mixed results. In rural
Autauga County, Alabama, students who test negative are rewarded with perks
in a scheme that resulted in an 18 per cent drop in marijuana use in 2002,
according to local authorities.

Pupils taking part in the voluntary drug-testing are given special ID cards
that entitle them to discounts at local shops and restaurants. They can
keep the cards as long as they test negative in twice-yearly random drug tests.

The results of school drug tests in America are made available only to
parents and school administrators. Even teachers are not privy to a pupil's
result. A urine test is the most common form of drug-testing. However,
hair, sweat patches and oral fluid tests can also be used.

When called in to take a drug test, the student is met by a tester who
takes the specimen. If the screening tests positive, it will be confirmed
by a second laboratory test. If that is also positive, the child's parents
will be contacted. School officials may then refer the pupil to a drug
counsellor.

Many drug-taking students in America now use tricks to mask their drug use
and countless websites have sprung up giving advice on how to beat the
system. Some students drink large amounts of water just before the test to
dilute their urine; others add salt, bleach or vinegar to the sample. Other
students ask substance-free friends to leave bottles of clean urine in the
bathroom cubicles.

Most of the masking techniques do not work and, even if the drug is
disguised, the product will be detected, making the pupil an obvious
candidate for further screening.

Drug testing costs between $10 (UKP5.40) and $30 a test. Some schools pay
for tests with government grants, while others are funded by private
foundations. A national survey that tracks drug use among America's youth
found in 2001 that more than half of all students had used drugs by the
time they finished high school.

An American-style drug-testing project was mounted by police, county
council officials and schools in Kent last year. Sniffer dogs and UKP30,000
scanners were used to carry out spot checks in ten schools.

Kent council said the results of sweeps by sniffer dogs showed "some
benefit" but the Department for Education criticised the scheme as "not
really appropriate".