STUDENT DRUG TESTS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE

Your Aug. 17 editorial on the Supreme Court's latest drug war exemption to
the Constitution was right on target. Student involvement in after-school
activities has been shown to reduce drug use. They keep kids busy during
the hours they are most likely to get into trouble. Forcing students to
undergo degrading urine tests as a prerequisite will only discourage
participation in extracurricular activities.

Drug testing may also compel users of relatively harmless marijuana to
switch to harder drugs to avoid testing positive. Despite a short- lived
high, marijuana is the only drug that stays in the human body long enough
to make urinalysis a deterrent. Marijuana's organic metabolites are
fat-soluble and can linger for days.

Synthetic drugs are water-soluble and exit the body quickly. A student who
takes ecstasy, meth, LSD or heroin on Friday night will likely test clean
on Monday morning. If you think students don't know this, think again.
Anyone capable of running a search on the Internet can find out how to
thwart a drug test. Drug-testing profiteers do not readily volunteer this
information, for obvious reasons.

The most commonly abused drug and the one most closely associated with
violent behavior is almost impossible to detect with urinalysis. That drug
is alcohol, and it takes far more student lives every year than all illegal
drugs combined. Instead of wasting money on counterproductive drug tests,
schools should invest in reality-based drug education.

ROBERT SHARPE, M.P.A.

Program Officer

Drug Policy Alliance

Washington, D.C.