TESTING THE TEST

New Study Raises Questions About the Value of Student Drug Tests

Adults have tried a lot of different methods to discourage teenagers
from using drugs. One of the more popular ideas of recent years is
random drug testing of public school students involved in sports or
extracurricular activities.

Last year, the Supreme Court rejected a constitutional challenge of
such testing, with the majority of the justices calling it "a
reasonably effective means of addressing the school district's
legitimate concerns in preventing, deterring and detecting drug use."

But is it? Intuition suggests that if students fear being caught using
illicit drugs, testing would be a deterrent. Little research has been
done, though, to support that assumption. And a new study suggests
that the prospect of a urinalysis on Monday morning doesn't
necessarily determine what teens do on Saturday night.

The survey, conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan and
published in the Journal of School Health, found that this type of
program, though on the rise, still is fairly rare. Only about 5
percent of schools polled test student athletes, and only about 3
percent test kids involved in extracurricular activities. About 14
percent, by contrast, conduct testing of students for cause -- when
their behavior provides grounds for suspicion. In neither regimen,
however, did the study find any connection between testing and drug
use.

Why would that be? University of Michigan social psychologist Lloyd
Johnston, one of the authors, says that as testing becomes more
common, students may find ways to beat the tests. In addition, he
says, some teenagers may be so offended by the intrusiveness of the
test, and the idea of having to prove their innocence, that they are
less inclined to heed their elders' advice against using drugs. "It
may give rise to resistance even among kids who aren't part of the
drug culture," he says.

Another possible explanation is that schools with severe drug problems
may be more likely to adopt testing in the first place. Drug tests
might lower drug use to the same level as the average school, but that
improvement wouldn't show up in this survey.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy takes issue
with the report, arguing that it wasn't sufficiently focused on random
drug testing that might have the most reliable deterrent effect.
Certainly no one should place too much significance on this study,
which like any survey may prove erroneous. And more research is needed
before anyone can have great confidence in the relationship between
testing and drug use.

But it's also worth noting that drug use among high school students
has been stable or declining in recent years -- even though very few
schools do widespread testing. What that suggests is that kids are
learning a healthy appreciation of the hazards of drug use. In the
end, that may be the best possible preventive.

The Chicago Tribune