Drugs Testing In Schools

[cpnichol]

Since a 2002 Supreme Court ruling that schools were allowed to drug test school students taking part in extracurricular activities, the number of schools doing so has quickly increased. It is not just in the US that drug testing students happens, a school in the UK has also introduced random drugs testing, and in Australia a bill was proposed that would require mandatory drugs testing of all state school pupils over the age of 14.

The supporters of drugs testing in schools say that the tests send out an important message to students and also provide them with a valid reason for saying no to drugs. They also point to studies conducted on the increase or reported drug use after the withdrawl of a state wide testing scheme and to a US Department Of Defence survey showing that drug use among military personnel dropped from 27 percent to 1 after the introduction of random drugs testing.

So if it cuts the the amount of drug use amongst school pupils it has to be a good idea, right? Not everyone agrees.

A survey of 359 US physicians specialising in paediatric, adolescent and family medicine, showed that 80% either disagreed or strongly disagreed with a recommendation that all adolescent students be tested for drugs. There have been relatively few in depth studies on the effectiveness of drugs testing in schools and of those two studies, one shows no correlation between drugs testing and drug use and the other only a slight decline.

Not only are there doubts about the effectiveness of these tests in deterring drug use amongst students, there are also doubts about the actual tests themselves.

A recent study found that out of 710 drug tests performed, 85 gave incorrect results, thats nealry 12%. This means that those using drugs may not test positive and that there are also circumstatnces where someone who does not use drugs could test positive. If the school is being federally funded they are required a positive test must be checked by a lab, but this only applies to federally funded tests.

Personally I do not like the idea of drugs testing in schools, not just because the evidence for it being effective at reducing drug use is patchy at best ,or that the tests themselves are not that reliable. I suppose my objection is mainly that it is none of their damn business what their students get up to when they are not at school, unless it directly involves the school.

What's more the expansion of these programs, like the one proposed in Australia, could lead to the compulsory drug testing of a whole age group. I cannot imagine any government trying to drug test say all 20-25 year olds, there would be outrage at the suggestion. But because the people involved are too young to vote it somehow seems acceptable.

What do you think? I know some of you go to school, do you get tested? I know some of you are parents too, are you ok with your children being drugs tested?
I got the figures from New Scientist, so blame them if they are wrong[:-].

[Greenblaster]

My school does not currently test any students for drugs, though I don't think I would mind being tested on a regular basis, should the process be improved to guarantee 100% positive results. It will certainly cut down the number of teens using illegal drugs, and I don't see any negative side to that.

[Streetbum]

A little something you may all not know about me. I used to smoke A LOT of marijuana. I haven't in over a year (GO ME) but I really really don't see the big deal. I know on a personal level that the weed made me apathetic, and my grades feel a bit, but is that not for my parents to deal with? My mom found out and dealt with it in a way that actually made sense to me. She told me she had done it before, and that she didn't like the feeling. She said she didn't mind I experimented, and made me promise id stop, and then she told me if i ever did anything stronger than weed shed kill me herself. Not only was i terrified, i understood :-p I have not smoked weed since, but I do NOT judge people who do, and I do not consider it anymore of a malicious substance than cigarettes or alcohol, in fact i consider it less malicious.

The only real way to OD on weed is to smoke more than 2 pounds in 2 hours (im pretty sure those are the numbers)....if you smoke 1/4 of a pound of weed, in a day, you cant pick up your arms, never mind have the coordination to smoke. If you take 15 shots of hard liquor with a crappy tolerance for alcohol, you can go into alcohol poisoning and die. What seems worse?

Kids may smoke cigarettes off school grounds and not get in trouble: cigarettes are carcinogens, with no body or mind altering other than addiction. Marijuana has been shown in tests to reduce the chances of some forms of cancer, and is in fact used to TREAT some cancers (despite what people are told in the media).

Kids may drink alcohol outside of school without getting in trouble: Alcohol leads to car accidents and alcohol poisoning. Weed leads to getting laid and giggling alot to kids shows. I assure you, when you're high, the only desire you have to drive is to go get chocolate and make SMOORESS MANNNN.

Drug testing in school sports is understandable, they can lower your performance. Also, bringing dogs in to sniff cars and lockers is understandable, thats on school grounds.

I know some people who smoke marijuana who are smarter/do better/do more than I do for gods sake. My friend Mr X is in the top 5% of his class, and will probably end up doing something good with himself. My friend Mr Z in INCREDIBLE with web design, and could easily have a career there. It isnt the drug, its the person. (at least with weed, other drugs is way, way different)

So you all know, I currently do not smoke or drink (Stopped drinking all together after i made a pact with my ex gf) I just feel people should be able to lead their lives without all this crap. If they don't get i trouble while they're high, why the hell should they get in trouble later? Thats bullshit to me, im not sure about you guys. Its the parents job to look after their kids, they should do THEIR jobs. I WOULD mind getting tested, because that only sets precedent for them to butt in even more. This is my life, i DID smoke weed, i DON'T anymore. I know for a fact im more mature than most kids my age who DON'T smoke and never have.

Its not fair for me to get labeled as a "loser" because I smoked. Those of you who say you don't get labeled, you're wrong. Teachers treat you like crap, your parents never trust you, its hell. I actually lost a friend because she said (and I quote) "I hate people who do drugs". I went off, we don't talk anymore....

Thats what I have to say on this topic lol..... feel free to disagree or agree as such, but this is one of those things where i've been there/done that and I just feel differently because of that.

[EskimoBOB]

Testing for weed in high school is pointless. It was easier to get weed in highschool then it is now. I used to remember going out for a smoke and being invited to join a session, we'd leave to goto a spot and there would already be a session ongoing. It was awesome. 1 out of 5 people in our smoking area was selling some kind of drug at any given point in the school day. We'd goto class stonned out of our minds and so did everyone else. There were even a few teachers that would come to class high.

Weed does not effect your performance at all. I have a friend, this guy wakes up in the morning and smokes two spliffs. On the way to work he smokes a spliff, on coffee break he smokes a spliff, on break he smokes a spliff, on second break he smokes a spliff, after work he smokes a spliff, on the way home he smokes a spliff, when he gets home he smokes a sliff. His job requires him to think and concentrate all day long. He does a very good job and is currently a supervisor.

If a student is going to smoke weed, they will smoke weed. No amount of drug testing will get around this. There are ways around a drug test and all this will do is boost sales in detox drinks (http://www.detoks.com/). The drug is too easy to hide.

Street, in order to overdose on weed, according to what I've heard (I've NEVER heard of anyone ODing) you need to eat twice your body weight in weed. It's things like this that make me happy I live in Canada where soon weed will become leagal, thanks to people like Mark Emery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Emery). BTW, you bastards are trying to extradit him because you bought millions of dollars worth of seeds off him. He put all his profit into his campeign for the legalization of weed. F U!

It takes more then 15 shots for alcohol poisoning :-P I know from experience.

FYI, I'm going to go smoke weed now, thanks for bringing it up.

[Streetbum]

Eskimo haha I love you. It takes a good 15 if you have low tolerance. People try to go nuts their first time drinking and it turns out bad. Its one of the reasons i don't drink, ive seent way too many people go to the ER, and told way too many friends to "lie on your side, so you don't choke yourself" and "I'm gonna keep waking you up to make sure you aren't unconscious, instead of sleeping". I cant imagine how things would have gone some of those times if i wasn't available.[:'(] I hate alcohol anyway, you feel like hell afterwards. A beer is enough for me

[The-Free-Kill]

being straight edge ftl

[seroone]

Alright Drug testing in schools would stop kids from doing it in school....but nothing would stop them from doing it out of school being a Teen ive had drugs pushed to me and a good chunk ive said ya when it comes to hard i say no so having a drug test in school would only stop a kid from doing it IN school but never out (we get testd everytime there is a dance scince last year we put 3 Rentacops in hospitle....poor chaps)