DEVASTATING POLICY

TO THE EDITOR: Regarding "School-based drug testing proposed" (news story,
May 31): As a mother of two, I'm outraged by U.S. Office of National Drug
Control Policy Director John Walters' encouragement of the Tecumseh school
policy to drug-test students. If I want to know the contents of my child's
urine, I can go to the drug store and buy a home testing kit.

The goal of the school testing program would be to "confidentially" help
students kick drug habits, but how is that possible when Walters also
promotes a "zero-tolerance" policy? The effects of having a positive drug
test in one's student file would be devastating for a lifetime, instantly
banning the student from scholarships and possibly college acceptance.

Legislation already exists aimed at young users and their education by
banning anyone with a drug conviction from receiving federal financial
assistance for college. When a generation is banned from college, we are
only exasperating the drug problem, not helping it.

No thank you, Mr. Walters. I will take my responsibilities of parenting
with pride and without your billion-dollar assistance to sentence my
children to a lifetime of minimum wage earnings.

Andrea P. Shaughnessey, Yukon