DRUG TESTING STUDENTS IS UN-AMERICAN

The proposal to randomly drug test public school students is asinine
and dangerous. Fueled mostly by the media and under the guise of
student and public safety, a paranoia and hysteria has been created.
We are about to enter George Orwell's "1984" society, in which
government has been allowed to intrude in all aspects of our personal
lives. Why should we stop at drug testing students? Why not test
those applying for driver's licenses, going to the doctor, shopping
at the local supermarket? The public is in all these places, too.
What? The safety of our licensing administrators, doctors and
cashiers isn't as important as our students?

Random testing, besides being costly and ineffective, is also
un-American. Our Constitution provides for us to be safe from
unreasonable searches of our homes and persons. Some will argue that
the Supreme Court has supported random drug testing. But at one time
the courts also supported the secondary class of women and people of
color. Just because it's law doesn't mean it's right.

And once a student tests positive, we do what -- counseling?
Incarceration? Those cost money, too. I'd rather have my tax dollars
spent on truant officers to keep kids in schools and to buy library
books so that our students and their parents can read Orwell's "1984"
and learn its message.

Mel McKeague

Ewa Beach