DRUG TESTS' USEFULNESS

To the Editor:

"Study Finds No Sign That Testing Deters Students' Drug Use" (front page,
May 17) includes the tacit assumption that drug testing is good only for
deterrence.

Urine drug testing is one of the only laboratory tests for illicit
substance abuse. A positive drug screen can lead to the diagnosis and
treatment of a substance abuse disorder. This can save the life of a youth
and considerable costs to society. Whether an effective deterrent or not,
the drug screen may be the only way to detect this disease early in its
history, before more dramatic symptoms appear.

GERALD BUSCH, M.D.

Houston, May 17, 2003

The writer, a psychiatrist, is chairman of the treatment and research
committee of Mayor Lee P. Brown's antidrug initiative.