NO NEED FOR RANDOM DRUG TESTING

Dear Editor:

Kudos to Katherine Lee for an excellent July 25 column "Random drug
testing teaches dangerous lesson." It's true that some kids will stay
away from beneficial activities because of drug testing. I question
the need for drug testing. For 20 years DARE, Here's Looking at You
2000 and McGruff's Drug Prevention programs have been in our schools.
In 1998, the Office of National Drug Control Policy began the National
Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. The campaign produced the Partnership
for Drug-Free America anti-drug service announcements. In local
broadcasts, anti-drug ads dominate the airwaves and television screen,
appearing more than 445,000 times per year in 11 different languages.
The ads reach 90 percent of minors at least seven times a week. The
total value of broadcast time topped $3 billion, and another $380
million was appropriated by Congress to fund the efforts of the
Partnership for a Drug-Free America again. With our educational
institutions focusing more on drugs than education, it may drive our
best and brightest away.

LARRY SEGUIN

Lisbon, N.Y.