RANDOM DRUG TESTING MUST BE SUPPORTED

The problem with drug tests in public schools is that these tests are
expensive -- $50, according to a KGMB-9 report on the issue.

Projects in Hawai'i such as the Weed & Seed program are designed to
ameliorate the drug problems. However, with the state prisons filled,
incarceration of drug offenders is becoming a problem. Communities and the
DOE should be responsible to pay for the random drug testing if they wish to
see a decrease in drug use among teenagers.

The random drug testing will fail, however, if the communities are not
willing to fully support the drug testing, even if some other donor paid for
it entirely. Helping high school students through drug screening and
rehabilitation will not only lower the number of drug users in the future,
it will also lower the need for more prison space.

Stuart Akagi

Waimanalo