RANDOM TESTING IS NOT THE SOLUTION TO TEEN DRUG ABUSE

THE ISSUE - Senate President Robert Bunda has called for drug testing of
students in Hawaii's public schools.

DRUG abuse is a disturbing problem in Hawaii's public schools, but mandatory
drug testing proposed by Senate President Robert Bunda would only aggravate
the problem while stripping away students' privacy rights. Schools should
improve and expand drug prevention programs rather than engage in intrusive
searches.

Drug tests are included under Fourth Amendment protections against
unreasonable searches. Under that standard, probable cause is required
before searches can be executed. Students don't give up their constitutional
rights when they enter school doors, although school officials'
responsibility to protect their health and safety somewhat lessen that
protection.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1995 that public schools could randomly test
student athletes because they often are role models for other students. Last
year, the high court, emphasizing schools' "custodial responsibilities,"
extended the scope of suspicionless testing, upholding an Oklahoma
district's requirement that middle and high school students pass drug tests
in order to participate in any extracurricular activities, including band,
choir and the debate team. School-wide random searches may logically follow,
although such legal authority does not yet exist.

Approval of drug-testing in schools by the federal courts also does not
necessarily mean Hawaii's Supreme Court will agree. The state's high court
historically has provided greater privacy protection than that guaranteed by
federal courts.

Adopting a drug-testing program that would conform to federal court-approved
parameters would discourage some students from participating in such
activities. Sports and other extracurricular activities motivate students to
refrain from using drugs and create peer pressure to be drug-free. The best
way to discourage drug use by students is to encourage their participation
in such activities.

Bunda called for a "pilot program" of mandatory random testing but did not
expand on his proposal. Students, even athletes, in Hawaii's public schools
have not been subjected to random searches.

Elsewhere in the country, surveys have shown about 5 percent of schools have
performed drug tests on student athletes and 2 percent have tested students
in other after-school activities. Part of the reason for the low percentages
may be the expense; drug-testing kits cost $30 to $60 per individual.

Bunda and other legislators should be concerned about drug abuse by young
people. A recent survey indicated that half the high school seniors and a
third of sophomores had tried marijuana, the drug most easily detectable in
tests. School drug-testing could cause students to use more dangerous and
less detectable drugs such as crystal methamphetamine and the
amphetamine-based hallucinogen Ecstasy, which already are major problems in
Hawaii.