DRUG TESTING SERVICE OFFERS TO MAKE HOUSE CALLS

School Official Says Talking To Kids Is Better Than A Kit

A woman who has offered drug testing to companies around the region for 12
years is expanding her services.

Karen Metcalf of Duluth Superior Drug and Alcohol Testing will now make
house calls for parents concerned their children are using illicit drugs.

"I think there is a real need for it,'' Metcalf said. "If nothing else, for
parents' own sense of well being.''

"I know there's drugs out there -- I've done this testing for 12 years,''
she said.

A 1999 survey found that 4 percent of Duluth sixth-graders had used
marijuana in the past month. For ninth-graders the figure was 19.5 percent;
for seniors it was 30 percent.

A 1999 survey of Superior students in sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th grades
found that 38 percent of the students used alcohol in the past 30 days.
Also, 27 percent had used marijuana in the previous year.

By coincidence, Metcalf is offering her new service as the Duluth Police
Department is considering whether to make test kits for marijuana available
to parents, perhaps through Duluth schools.

"The comment we get a lot is, 'I think my kid may be smoking dope, and I
don't have a clue what to look for,' '' said Sgt. Craig Johnson of the
Duluth Police Department's Juvenile Bureau. "We're talking about making
those available to parents to administer those tests at home. We're
thinking about this not as a piece to solve the drug problem but to give
parents some peace of mind.''

The kits could be a way for parents to talk to their children about drugs,
Johnson said.

"We're not offering them yet, but we will make a decision about that real
soon,'' he said.

Metcalf will be available around the clock to check children whom a mother
or father suspects is using drugs.

"He would already have had to talk to this kid, because I'm not going to
get in a family dispute,'' Metcalf said. "When I'll do this I'll tell the
kids that their parents aren't doing it because they hate them, but because
they love them.''

The test Metcalf uses, which requires a urine sample, takes seven minutes
and is 99.9 percent reliable. The service will cost $35 to $40, Metcalf said.

Duluth school district chemical health specialist Ken Steil sees some value
to such a service, but feels it's probably overpriced.

"I think there's cheaper ways to go,'' he said. "We need somebody in the
community to put up a hundred bucks and buy some test kits'' that parents
could than buy at cost.

Metcalf said her service has an advantage over using self-test kits.

"The kids probably wouldn't believe their parents,'' she said.

Steil sees a greater value in parents checking up with and talking to their
kids than in using test kits.

"Once you have to reach down to rely on a chemical test rather than being
able to talk with your child, there is a problem. Not necessarily with
drugs,'' he said.

"Better than any drug test is asking their child 'Are you using?' '' he
said. "And I don't think they should be shy about asking that question
repeatedly and inquiring about their friends.''