DRUG TESTING PLAN IS FLAWED

In response to Ramnath Subramanian's March 28 column, "Testing students for
drugs has its place," the U.S. Supreme Court will review an Oklahoma school
district's drug-testing policy on constitutional grounds, but there are
compelling health reasons to oppose drug testing.

Student involvement in extracurricular activities has been shown to reduce
drug use. In my opinion, forcing students to undergo degrading drug tests
as a prerequisite will discourage such activities. Drug testing may also
compel smokers of 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 weeks. Synthetic hard drugs
are water-soluble and exit the body quickly.

If you think students don't know this, think again.

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 I believe it takes far more 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

Program officer, Drug Policy Alliance, Washington, D.C.