WEED WATCH - NO CHILD'S URINE LEFT BEHIND

During his State of the Union address on Jan. 20, President George W.
Bush announced a proposal to allocate $23 million for schools to
implement drug testing programs. Bush happily noted that drug use
among high school students has dropped 11% in the past two years, a
decline he credited in part to the effectiveness of in-school drug
testing - a claim that drug reformers and civil libertarians say is
specious, at best.

"Drug testing is not the magic solution to our kids' safety in
schools. It does not reduce drug use among students," said Drug Policy
Alliance attorney Judy Appel in the DPA's weekly newsletter. "If the
president wants to address teenage drug use, he should allocate that
[money] to the after-school programs that have been cut, to drug
prevention programs, and to full-time substance abuse counselors in
schools." A study published last April by the Journal of School Health
found that drug testing had no effect on reducing drug use among
middle and high school students. The DPA notes that only 5% of schools
have drug-testing policies, making it highly unlikely that testing
could've played any substantial role in the decline of drug use among
teens. (For more on drug testing, see www.drugpolicy.org.)

Meanwhile, even as the president credits drug testing for a decline in
drug use, his drug czar John Walters, head of the White House Office
of National Drug Control Policy, has also taken credit, calling the
drop (which drug reformers say is exaggerated to begin with) a
byproduct of his $150 million anti-drug media campaign. "Fewer teens
are using drugs because of the deliberate and serious message they
have received about the dangers of drugs from their parents, leaders
and the prevention efforts like our [media campaign]," Walters said in
a December ONDCP press release.

Unfortunately, a study released Jan. 19 by the National Institute on
Drug Abuse directly contradicts Walters' claim. According to a
four-year NIDA-commissioned study conducted by the Annenberg School of
Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, "there is little
evidence of direct favorable [media campaign] effects on youth." (The
full report is available online at www.drugabuse.gov/DESPR/Westat/index.html.)
Not that the NIDA study is likely to end the much-criticized ad
campaign; instead, it may signal the end of independent evaluation.
According to the DRCNet, the ONDCP has successfully lobbied to end
funding for outside analyses of the media campaign, instead assigning
that job to its campaign cohorts, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

Meanwhile, Super Bowl watchers can expect another round of the ONDCP's
ads to air on CBS. Last week, CBS announced that it would not air the
winner of the MoveOn.org Bush in 30 Seconds ad contest - a spot that's
already aired repeatedly on other networks - citing the Eye's
long-standing policy of not airing ads on "controversial issues of
public importance." In response, the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws encouraged the network to decline airing the
ONDCP's anti-drug ads during the game. According to recent polls, 72%
of Americans favor marijuana decriminalization, NORML's Kris Krane
noted in a press release, so the ONDCP's one-sided ad must be
considered an "issue ad" and subject to the network's policy. On Jan.
23, the DRCNet reported that after reviewing the issue, CBS has
declared the ONDCP ads as "noncontroversial."