RANDOM DRUG TESTS WILL REDUCE ABUSE

The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided, in the Board of Education vs.
Earls, that a school's interest in deterring students from using drugs
outweighs the privacy interest of the students.

When drugs infect a school it cripples the learning process. The physical
and psychological effects of drug and alcohol use can cause lifelong and
profound losses. Substance use decreases a child's chances of graduation
and academic success.

Schools must be allowed to use all reasonable means to combat drug and
alcohol use if education is to be successful and our schools are to be
safe. Drug testing deters drug use and gives students a reason to say "no"
when their peers ask them to use drugs.

Consider the results of random drug testing of athletes at Hunterdon
Central Regional High School in Flemington, N.J. After two years of
testing, they experienced a decline in 20 of 28 categories of drug use in
the whole student population.

Our nation uses random drug testing on military personnel and
transportation workers to insure national security and safe travel. In
addition, most major employers use random drug testing as a deterrent.
Since schools are preparing students to enter the work force then it stands
to reason that they should not be immune from random drug testing either.
Let's adopt a program for our schools. Drug use will decline dramatically
and that's worth the minor inconvenience a few undergo.

- -- Mike Jones

Granite Quarry