U.S. OFFICIAL SEES VA. AS A LEADER

Drug-Testing Law for Students Cited

The nation's drug czar said yesterday a new Virginia law that will
allow drug testing of students will make the state a leader in the war
on drugs.

John P. Walters, director of National Drug Control Policy, said
drug-testing programs will allow early intervention before lives are
destroyed.

The object of the law is not to punish but to detect drug use so
students can be counseled, Walters said.

Walters joined Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore at a news conference
at Kilgore's office. Kilgore will have to work with the State Board of
Education in drafting new drug-testing rules that comply with recent
U.S. Supreme Court opinions.

According to a summary on the General Assembly Web site, the law was
passed to reflect the recent Supreme Court decision upholding random
drug testing of Oklahoma public school students as a condition of
participating in competitive extracurricular activities.

The bill, introduced by Del. Johnny S. Joannou, D-Portsmouth, allows,
but does not require, school boards in Virginia to implement
drug-testing policies. The law takes effect July 1. Virginia is one of
the first states to have passed such a law.

A couple of school divisions in Virginia already require that
participants in high school sports submit to random drug testing.

Walters said President Bush has set "ambitious" goals of reducing
teenage and adult drug use by 10 percent in two years and by 25
percent in five years.

"We change the dynamics of the drug problem in America for generations
to come if we stop teenagers from experimenting with dangerous and
addictive drugs," Walters said.

Six million people have to be treated each year for drug addiction or
abuse, he said. Twenty-three percent of them are teenagers.

"They are in schools, they are in Little Leagues, they are in safe
communities," Walters said.

He described drug testing in schools as a "powerful" tool that is
misunderstood.

The testing is done confidentially and is used for interven-tion, not
punishment, he added.

"Kids feel they are expected to use drugs when they become teenagers,"
he said. "They think there is something wrong with them if they don't."

Kilgore said his office will encourage, but will not force, schools to
allow testing. The testing will be "non-intrusive," probably by taking
saliva or hair samples, he said.

Walters said some schools use random testing, others use entrance
testing, or testing for cause.

When tested positively, the kids usually admit to drug use, but the
parents deny it, he continued.

"Parents dramatically underestimate the extent to which almost every
middle and high school student body" experiments with drugs, Walters
said.

Walters is traveling about the country to spread his anti-drug
message. He met with some law enforcement people earlier in
Williamburg.

At the news conference, Walters was confronted by Roy Scherer, a
long-time pro-marijuana activist in Richmond, who said drug users are
given a choice of treatment or jail to boost the government's
anti-drug statistics.

"Many young people consider the day they are arrested the luckiest day
of their life because it saved their life," Walters replied.

Nationally, 20 percent of the people in prisons are there for drug
crimes and almost all of these are for trafficking, Walters said.
Fewer than one-half of 1 percent are there for marijuana possession,
he said.

"For those who have their readers constantly told our jails are full
of low-level drug offenders, that's a lie. It's a lie perpetrated by
people who want people to be doubtful about the effectiveness of the
criminal justice system," he said. "Americans should be proud of our
criminal justice system."

According to data provided by Walters' office, 14,248 people were
arrested in Virginia for marijuana possession in 2001. Walters said
the marijuana sold today is much stronger than the "mellow" variety
sold years ago.