VOLUNTARY STUDENT DRUG TESTS: BAD IDEA

Drug testing of students, as well intentioned as it may be, is not a
substitute for real, fact-based drug education. When we relegate our
responsibility to teach our children about drugs to an agency such as
the ONDCP (Office of Drug Control Policy) we can only cross our
fingers and hope for the worst.

Any agency that relies on keeping people in the dark about drugs in
order to cash its paycheck should not be the model here. (Have you
seen the talking dog commercial?) If this is supposed to be the best
way to teach our children about the dangers of drugs there is
something seriously wrong.

John Walters should have been booed out of the room when he asserted
that marijuana use leads kids to crime and violence. Our policy of
prohibition is the one to blame here.

Walters is nothing but a public figurehead for the drug testing
industry, playing with people's emotions in a city stricken by the
plague of violence. In the end it's worth it to note that Mr. Walters
is still receiving his paycheck and every one of us is signing the check.

Robert Dougherty

Philadelphia