TESTING IS BAD POLICY

As a father of two recent high school graduates, I'd like to concur
with letter writer Kirk Muse that urine testing students randomly
simply motivates those inclined to experimental drug use to gravitate
towards heavy impact and water soluble narcotics and speed.

Even more discouraging is the message such random, suspicionless
urine testing of students sends to the almost two-thirds who will in
fact be drug free.

They tell us honestly, "I don't use illicit drugs". And those backing
the testing reply, "Your word is insufficient proof. You must
demonstrate your integrity with a sample of your bodily waste."

It's clear most parents object to the idea of coercing such bodily
fluid samples from their teenagers. Only 19% of public schools have
drug testing policies and barely a tenth of those - about 2% of all
schools - do such 'random' testing without probable cause.

The reason? As noted by the University of Michigan, random testing
of teenagers' urine has no measureable effect on illicit drug use by
the student populations tested. And it most certainly inhibits honest
communication between teens and parents. That's because demanding
urine samples without cause essentially tells our drug-free teenagers
that their word cannot be trusted.

Our kids need to know the dangers related to drug abuse. This
information should come from parents and educators. In neither case
will that information be more openly received if a full urine cup is
a prerequisite to honest communication.

Stephen Heath

Clearwater FL