STUDENT DRUG-TEST PUSH MEETS SHARP CRITICISM

WASHINGTON - Sixteen-year-old Garrett Dush says he doesn't take drugs and
wouldn't mind being tested for them at school under a program being
championed by President Bush.

But Garrett's father, Cris Dush, is concerned about how his son, a high
school sophomore from Brookville, Pa., or other students would be selected
for testing. "It'd have to be random," says Cris Dush, who works at a state
prison outside of Brookville, about 80 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. "If
the kid is going to feel targeted ... I wouldn't want that."

The idea of steering America's kids clear of drugs has broad support. But
the $23 million White House plan to increase testing in schools is drawing
sharp criticism from some parents, school administrators and civil
liberties activists. Bush's plan, unveiled last week in his State of the
Union speech, would expand a $2 million program that last year funded drug
testing in eight school districts. A Supreme Court case in 2002 upheld the
authority of schools to test students who participate in extracurricular
activities, like sports teams. Federal guidelines under which those
students are tested have been kept deliberately vague to give schools and
communities broad discretion. But Bush and his drug policy director insist
test results be kept confidential. "The aim here is not to punish children,
but to send them this message: 'We love you, and we don't want to lose
you,'" Bush said. Word can still get out, according to some administrators
as well as critics. That's troubling to civil liberties groups who say
children who need help could end up in jail instead.

"They're saying this is to help, not punish," said Ethan Nadelmann,
executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance in New York, which fiercely
guards against government privacy violations and questions the
effectiveness of drug testing. "But it always starts with that. And
inevitably, the next shoe to drop is: 'We need to punish people in order to
help people.'" In Nelson County, Ky., all high school athletes in fall
sports were tested for drugs at the beginning of the school year, followed
by two more rounds of tests for randomly selected athletes.

This spring, students involved in other extracurricular activities - like
band or yearbook - also will start random testing, said Karen Johnson, the
school district's director of federal grants.

"It's been accepted very well," Johnson said. The county received $284,203
from the federal government last year to help pay for drug testing. "If
students want to play sports, they know they have to be clean," she said.
"A lot of times, drug use is the result of peer pressure. But if they have
a reason, they can say, 'I can't do that.' It gives them an out without
looking like they're a nerd or something."

Students who test positive are temporarily pulled off their team and
receive counseling from a school adviser, Johnson said. Police are not
called, and students rarely, if ever, risk being suspended or expelled from
school, she said. Already, Republican lawmakers, led by Rep. John Peterson
of Pennsylvania, are pushing legislation to set up random drug testing for
all students grades 8-12 - not just those in after-school activities.

For whatever reason, drug use among junior- and senior-high school students
has been on a two-year decline, a recent University of Michigan study
showed. Less than half of school districts test any students for drugs,
said Paul Houston, executive director of the American Association of School
Administrators. Those that do have scant resources to follow up with
medical intervention. "We've got school districts who think it's wonderful,
and are doing it, and others who think it's terrible," said Houston, whose
Arlington, Va.-based group represents 14,000 school superintendents
nationwide. "It sort of depends on the local communities, their values."

Privacy concerns are another matter. In most cases, students who test
positive are sent to school counselors instead of doctors for intervention
and treatment, said Julie Underwood, general counsel for the National
School Boards Association. For the most part, she said, schools "are real
good about student privacy," but word of a positive drug test can still get
out.

"Students probably know," Underwood said. "For many school administrators,
it may not be a concern, because part of the total picture is making sure
that students understand the negative consequences of drug use." She said
it's unlikely that school districts shield all positive drug tests from the
law.

But to Garrett Dush and three other Brookville teens who were in Washington
last week, that doesn't matter much.

"I don't think you have to worry about it if you're not doing it," Garrett
said. "So it wouldn't be a big deal if any of your friends found out your
test results."