DRUG TESTING URGED FOR STUDENTS

NEW BEDFORD -- President Bush's drug czar told New England governors
yesterday that more children in the region are dependent on illegal drugs
than in any other area in the nation.

John Walters, director of the Office of Drug Control Policy, speaking at
the Faneuil Hall summit, singled out New England's high rate of heroin use.

"It is a big business," Karen Tandy, head of the Drug Enforcement
Administration, told the governors and the assembled audience.

"You might as well be sitting at the border of Colombia in this Northeast
region."

In response, Mr. Walters, who is charged with setting national drug policy,
called on leaders to stem the heroin epidemic by testing students for drugs.

"This is a tool that will make a difference," Mr. Walters said. "Its time
has come."

Heroin as cheap as $4 per bag has made it easier for young people to get
hooked, Mr. Walters said. In New Bedford, detectives said prices range from
$5 to $6 if a user buys a packet of 10 bags.

The number of adults admitted for heroin treatment in New Bedford jumped
almost 161 percent from 1995-2002, according to statistics from the state
Department of Public Health.

The cheap prices correspond to a greater supply. High-level heroin
traffickers are transporting drugs directly to New England, bypassing the
traditional transport route through New York City, and are marketing heroin
directly to children, Ms. Tandy said.

But educators said a national policy of testing high school students for
drug use might be unnecessary.

"We really haven't had a problem in the past with anything even remotely
resembling that problem," said Steve Pettey, the principal of Dartmouth
Middle School. "We haven't seen the need to do that."

Some schools in the nation test students involved in extracurricular
activities or sports. However, Mr. Pettey said he believes any drug testing
regimen would have to include all students to be fair.

"If you're going to drug test athletes ... you better test the chess club,
the band," he said.

Jean Cote, principal of Fairhaven High School, has similar views. Although
he believes drug use outside schools regionwide potentially could filter
inside the classroom, he has not seen evidence that his students are
particularly afflicted.

The school does not conduct random tests, but the building is occasionally
swept by drug sniffing dogs from the Bristol County Sheriff's Department,
he said.

Lawyers for the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union
immediately raised objections to any form of random drug tests for students.

The U.S. and state constitutions provide protection from unreasonable
police searches, ACLU staff attorney Sarah Wunsch said.

"Any public school that is listening to this advice is making a big
mistake," she said, referring to Mr. Walters' testing proposal.

She is unaware of any school system in the state that has randomly tested
its students. The ACLU, she said, has successfully fought similar policies
implemented for officers in the Boston Police Department and workers at
Motorola.

"I have serious doubts about the legality of making it this broad in the
public schools," she said.

Vern Rudolph, a recovered heroin user, has a teenager in New Bedford High
School. Parents, he said, are more important than any testing regimen.

"The best thing you can do is ask" your children, he said. The Associated
Press contributed to this story.

This story appeared on Page A1 of The Standard-Times on October 9, 2003.