OUR VIEW: RANDOM DRUG SEARCHES IN SCHOOLS

The country's drug czar said in Boston last week that random drug
testing in schools would be a good tool for use in confronting a new
drug epidemic.

John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy,
is way off base with this proposal. The schools have more than they
can handle as it is. With increased testing requirements from both the
federal and state governments, and tight budgets to live with, schools
are in no position to handle another mission.

Moreover, there is no concrete evidence that drugs in schools are the
main problem. Other methods to detect drugs are used in some schools -
having drug-sniffing dogs check school lockers, for example. And there
are stiff penalties for selling drugs in a school zone. But that's a
far cry from administering drug tests to students.

Walters was in Massachusetts to meet with New England governors on the
dramatic increase in the use of heroin in the Northeast. Heroin is
both cheap and readily available. Many users are smoking it rather
than injecting it, which they believe to be less dangerous or
addictive. But the drug is the same, however it is ingested.

Raising awareness among law enforcement professionals and school
administrators is fine. And if teachers see a student whom they
believe to be using drugs, they can and should take appropriate action.

But government must respond in other ways to the problem of drug
addiction before intruding into the lives of students who have
demonstrated no connection to drugs. Funds that would be used for
random testing in the schools should be applied instead to helping
people overcome their habit. Not enough drug treatment programs are
available for all those with a drug problem who are seeking help.

The first defense against drugs is education and vigilance, mainly at
home.