DRUG TESTING DOESN'T MAKE CHILDREN SAFER

The Sun's editorial "A high C and a drug test" (March 31) was right on
target. The U.S. Supreme Court will review the constitutionality of an
Oklahoma school district's drug testing policy, but there are compelling
health reasons to oppose the invasive policy.

Student involvement in extracurricular activities has been shown to reduce
drug use. Forcing students to undergo degrading drug tests as a
prerequisite will only discourage such activities.

Drug testing may also compel smokers of relatively harmless marijuana to
switch to harder drugs to avoid testing positive. Marijuana is the only
drug that stays in the body long enough to make urinalysis a deterrent.
Synthetic drugs are water-soluble and exit the body quickly. A student who
takes ecstasy 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.
And the most abused drug is almost impossible to detect with urinalysis.
That drug is alcohol, and it takes far more lives every year than all
illegal drugs combined.

Instead of wasting money on counter-productive drug tests, schools should
invest in reality-based drug education.

Robert Sharpe Washington

The writer is a program officer for the Drug Policy Alliance.