WHITE HOUSE EMBARKS ON NEW CAMPAIGN TO CONVINCE SCHOOLS TO REQUIRE DRUG TESTS
FOR STUDENTS

From NPR News, this is All Things Considered. I'm Robert
Siegel.

And I'm Michele Norris.

The White House has embarked on a new campaign aimed at convincing
more schools to require drug tests for students. The White House
drug czar held a closed-door meeting yesterday with lawmakers,
activists and educators. The Supreme Court has ruled that such
testing is constitutional for students who are involved in competitive
extracurricular activities. But so far, few educators have embraced
the idea. NPR's Brian Mann reports.

BRIAN MANN reporting:

National drug czar John Walters is campaigning for a new drug-testing
initiative in public schools.

Mr. JOHN WALTERS (US Drug Czar): I go to schools where people are
horrified at teen-agers dying of overdoses of heroin. I tell them
drug-test.

MANN: Only about 5 percent of school districts nationwide have
launched random drug-testing programs. In a speech last week in
Philadelphia, Walters said that has to change.

Mr. WALTERS: Drug testing is a silver bullet. It will change this
problem in this country as no other tool will.

MANN: The White House is offering schools $2 million this year in
drug-testing grants and hopes to budget $8 million for new programs
next year. Yesterday, Walters gathered supporters to help launch a
national drug-testing campaign, though his spokesman refused to
disclose the location of the gathering or who was invited.
Opponents of drug testing, like Charles McCormick, superintendent of
the Kaneland School District west of Chicago, weren't included.

Mr. CHARLES McCORMICK (Kaneland School District): It's going to be an
abortion kind of issue, I think, where you're going to have people on
one side or the other in a very contentious fashion.

MANN: McCormick says drug testing is too expensive at a time when many
schools are struggling just to pay teachers. Also the tests don't
catch kids who are abusing alcohol, which most educators agree is the
drug of choice among students. Some researchers also question where
random drug testing cuts the use of marijuana. This spring a national
study published in the Journal of School Health found virtually
identical rates of marijuana use in schools that have drug testing and
schools that don't. Mathea Falco, who runs a drug policy think tank
called Drug Strategies, says the study offered strong evidence that
kids aren't deterred by the risk of getting caught.

Ms. MATHEA FALCO (Drug Strategies): Adolescents wish to experiment
with all kinds of behaviors. Kids are especially prone to thinking
that they can get away with it.

MANN: By targeting children in extracurricular programs, Falco says
schools also miss the kids who are most at risk for drug abuse.
Activists on both sides of the drug testing debate are already pushing
their message with educators. Graham Boyd with the American Civil
Liberties Union says the ACLU has launched its own PR campaign.

Mr. GRAHAM BOYD (American Civil Liberties Union): What we're doing is
sending a pamphlet to every school board in America to let them know
what the facts are. This is a policy that is not going to help
children; if anything, it's going to hurt them.

MANN: Boyd worries that kids will drop out of extracurricular programs
to avoid drug testing. Testing advocates say there's no evidence
that that happens. They point to smaller studies, including a
research project at Oregon Health & Science University, as evidence
that testing works. Lisa Brady is principal of Hunterdon High
School in Flemington, New Jersey.

Ms. LISA BRADY (Hunterdon High School): I definitely think that we
have enough research that shows that these programs are deterrent
programs, and I am fully supportive of this push at the national level.

MANN: Drug testing began at Hunterdon High in 1997. Brady says
surveys and student interviews show the tests have slowed drug use.
Kids say they're afraid of getting caught, she says. But Brady also
thinks many students use the tests as an excuse to say no when peers
offer them drugs. Officials with the Office of National Drug
Control Policy declined to be interviewed for this story, but drug
czar John Walters says he'll push hard to convince more schools that
drug testing works.

Mr. WALTERS: We are going to aggressively push connecting the dots.
It'll be done community by community, not by federal mandate.

MANN: Some drug testing proponents hope yesterday's summit will help
promote legislation, at least at the state level, that would force
schools to launch drug testing programs. Opponents say the laws
would be unpopular with local school boards, especially if they come
without new funding.