Study: Schools Drug Test Students Despite Lack of Evidence

[ReformMaryJaneLaws]

Study: Schools Drug Test Students Despite Lack of Evidence
Thurs, Aug 28, 2003


Schools are randomly drug testing students without evidence to show that drug testing actually deters student drug use, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Law and Education.

The study was intended to examine the impact of the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision which ruled in favor of allowing schools to conduct suspicionless drug testing of students participating in any extra-curricular activity. The research surveyed ten schools in a Midwestern city and found that three of the schools decided to implement suspicionless drug testing as a result of the decision. Based largely on the principals’ attitude to drug testing, all students enrolled in extra-curricular activities at the three schools were subject to random urine analysis despite the lack of evidence supporting the efficacy of drug testing.

“Although intuition may suggest that testing will be a deterrent, little research has been conducted to find out if this is so,” the report suggested. “What is surprising is that only one principal (“the skeptic”) seemed at all concerned about this lack of research.”

Recently, the largest nationwide study of student drug testing involving 76,000 students across the country published its results in the Journal of School Health. No difference was found between the drug use rates of students at schools that have drug testing programs and those that do not. The study points to research that demonstrates that the strongest predictor of student drug use is students’ attitudes toward drug use and perceptions of peer use. Researchers recommend that “to prevent harmful student behaviors such as drug use, school policies that address these key values, attitudes, and perceptions may prove more important in drug prevention than drug testing.”

Schools should be safe and trusting learning environments - suspicionless drug testing programs makes this impossible.



http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/c...u=37020&l=4437

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[BigCatLaflare]

to me there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. If schools did nothing to deter students away from drug use then we will end up with a country with even more problems.

[ImTheJoker4u2]

Originally Posted by BigCatLaflare

to me there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. If schools did nothing to deter students away from drug use then we will end up with a country with even more problems.

So if a kid smokes a joint on a Friday night, and the following Wednesday, he/she gets popped, thats OK? Even though the kid has straight A's and isn't a "burnout" he/she should get thrown out of the activity/school? How about targeting kids whose grades are falling, or skip school, or sleep in class. I see no reason to target and punish good responsible kids.

[BigCatLaflare]

The reason i think this is ok is because of the way public school systems work. If you join a club or activity, you agree to a code of conduct that you will not do drugs from the first practice to the last (in the case of an athletic team). In terms of students who are not a part of activities or clubs, they are allowed to speak up for themselves. When there was a random test in my school last year i went in and said, "I know i will test positive because i smoke on the weekends, but am in no way ever impaired in school, which is what i agreed to at the beginning of each year." i tested positive. there was no call home, no lunch detention. nothing. If this was during the swim team season, I would have been kicked off the team. To me this is completely fair. If you sign an agreement not to do something and then you get caught, its no one else's fault ever.

[Darkeligos]

Originally Posted by BigCatLaflare

The reason i think this is ok is because of the way public school systems work. If you join a club or activity, you agree to a code of conduct that you will not do drugs from the first practice to the last (in the case of an athletic team). In terms of students who are not a part of activities or clubs, they are allowed to speak up for themselves. When there was a random test in my school last year i went in and said, "I know i will test positive because i smoke on the weekends, but am in no way ever impaired in school, which is what i agreed to at the beginning of each year." i tested positive. there was no call home, no lunch detention. nothing. If this was during the swim team season, I would have been kicked off the team. To me this is completely fair. If you sign an agreement not to do something and then you get caught, its no one else's fault ever.

We got random drug testings if we had a parking permit (meaning we drive). The reason they probably didn't call your home or anything is that schools aren't actually trying to catch drug users, it is just that they are required...and want to make their school look good by not being in the statistics of drug infested schools.

[THCBandito]

Innocent until proven guilty ohhahahaha!

Alright, so you use the schools we pay taxes to build and put you in, then you do as we say! You want to walk on the sidewalks our taxes funded, well you have no choice then! Want to live in our country? Then you do as we say and pee in this cup! - freedom? what freedom? HAHAHHA!



Oh and BigCat, this in the article is only for extra-curriculars, but some schools do entire school-wide drug testing

[WeekendToker]

Drug use in this country is seen as a crime, so we are basically paying taxes to test if people did a crime, or defied he code of conduct, if it comes out positive, nothing happens.

So basically we are throwing school money at the people who make drug testing kits, instead of... oh, I dunno a better education?

At least the our money doesn't make something happen.