Drug Testing: An Overview
What Did the Court Rule?
In the case of the Board of Education of Independent School
District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County et al. v. Earls et al., the U.S.
Supreme Court upheld a drug-testing program for students involved
in competitive extracurricular activities. Although the ruling allows
schools to test greater numbers of students for drugs, it is not a blanket
endorsement of drug testing for all students. Before implementing
a drug-testing program, schools should engage legal counsel
familiar with the law regarding student drug testing.
Why Drug-Test Students?
Thanks to advances in medical technology, researchers are now
able to capture pictures of the human brain under the influence
of drugs. As these images clearly show, the pleasurable sensations
produced by some drugs are due to actual physical changes in the
brain. Many of these changes are long-lasting, and some are irreversible.
Scientists have recently discovered that the brain is not
fully developed in early childhood, as was once believed, but is in
fact still growing even in adolescence.
Introducing chemical changes in the
brain through the use of illegal drugs
can therefore have far more serious
adverse effects on adolescents than on
adults.
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If testing can reduce students’
use of illicit drugs, it will
remove a significant barrier
to academic achievement.
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Even so-called soft drugs can take a heavy toll. Marijuana’s
effects, for example, are not confined to the “high”; the drug can
also cause serious problems with memory and learning, as well as
difficulty in thinking and problem solving. Use of methamphetamine
or Ecstasy (MDMA) may cause long-lasting damage to brain
areas that are critical for thought and memory. In animal studies,
researchers found that four days of exposure to Ecstasy caused
damage that persisted for as long as six or seven years. Kids on
drugs cannot perform as well in school as their drug-free peers of
equal ability. So if testing reduces students’ use of illicit drugs, it
will remove a significant barrier to academic achievement.
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Case History: A Reward for Staying Clean
Autauga County School System
In rural Autauga County, Alabama, students have a special incentive to
stay off drugs. As part of a voluntary drug-testing program, participating students
who test negative for drugs in random screenings receive discounts
and other perks from scores of area businesses.
Community leaders and school officials, prompted by a growing concern
about the use of drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes among students,
launched the program in 2000 with the help of a local drug-free coalition
called Peers Are Staying Straight (PASS). “Our community was awakening to
the fact that we needed to do something,” says PASS Executive Director
Martha Ellis.
The Independent Decision program began with just the 7th grade but
will expand each year to include all grade levels. In the 2001–2002 school
year, more than half of all 7th and 8th graders at public and private schools
participated.
To enter the program, kids take a urine test for nicotine, cocaine,
amphetamines, opiates, PCP, and marijuana. Those who test negative get a
picture ID that entitles them to special deals at more than 55 participating
restaurants and stores. Students keep the ID as long as they test negative
in twice-yearly random drug tests.
Those who test positive (there have been only three) must relinquish
their cards and any special privileges. The school counselor notifies the parents
and, if appropriate, offers advice about where to find help. At that
point, the matter is strictly in the parents’ hands. If the child tests negative
in a subsequent random test, his or her card is returned. “Our whole purpose,”
says Ellis, “is to reward kids who stay clean and help them see the
benefits of a drug-free lifestyle.”
Surveys taken by PRIDE (the National Parents’ Resource Institute for
Drug Education) before the program began and again in 2002 showed significant
reductions in drug use among Autauga County’s 8th graders: from
35.9 percent to 24.4 percent for nicotine, 39.9 percent to 30 percent for
alcohol, and 18.5 percent to 11.8 percent for marijuana.
For more information about Autauga’s Independent Decision program,
call (334) 358–4900.
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Substance abuse should be recognized for what it is—a major
health issue—and dealt with accordingly. Like vision and hearing
tests, drug testing can alert parents to potential problems that
continued drug use might cause, such as liver or lung damage,
memory impairment, addiction, overdose, even death. Once the
drug problem has been identified, intervention and then treatment,
if appropriate, can begin.
Testing can also be an effective way to prevent drug use. The
expectation that they may be randomly tested is enough to make
some students stop using drugs—or never start in the first place.
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The expectation that they may be
randomly tested is enough to make
some students stop using drugs—or
never start in the first place.
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That kind of deterrence has been demonstrated many times
over in the American workplace. Employees in many national
security and safety-sensitive positions—airline pilots, commercial
truck drivers, school bus drivers, to name a few—are subject to
pre-employment and random drug tests to ensure public safety.
Employers who have followed the Federal model have seen a 67-
percent drop in positive drug
tests. Along with significant
declines in absenteeism, accidents,
and healthcare costs,
they’ve also experienced dramatic
increases in worker productivity.
While some students resist the idea of drug testing, many
endorse it. For one thing, it gives them a good excuse to say “no”
to drugs. Peer pressure among young people can be a powerful
and persuasive force. Knowing they may have to submit to a drug
test can help kids overcome the pressure to take drugs by giving
them a convenient “out.” This could serve them well in years to
come: Students represent the workforce of tomorrow, and eventually
many will need to pass a drug test to get a job.
It is important to understand that the goal of school-based
drug testing is not to punish students who use drugs. Although
consequences for illegal drug use should be part of any testing
program—suspension from an athletic activity or revoked parking
privileges, for example—the primary purpose is to deter use
and guide those who test positive into counseling or treatment. In
addition, drug testing in schools should never be undertaken as a
stand-alone response to the drug problem. Rather, it should be
one component of a broader program designed to reduce students’
use of illegal drugs.
What Are the Benefits of Drug Testing?
Drug use can quickly turn to dependence and addiction, trapping
users in a vicious cycle that destroys families and ruins lives. Students
who use drugs or alcohol are statistically more likely to drop out of
school than their peers who don’t. Dropouts, in turn, are more likely
to be unemployed, to depend on the welfare system, and to commit
crimes. If drug testing deters drug use,
everyone benefits—students, their families,
their schools, and their communities.
Drug and alcohol abuse not only interferes
with a student’s ability to learn, it
also disrupts the orderly environment
necessary for all students to succeed.
Studies have shown that students who use
drugs are more likely to bring guns and
knives to school, and that the more marijuana
a student smokes, the greater the
chances he or she will be involved in physical
attacks, property destruction, stealing,
and cutting classes. Just as parents and
students can expect schools to offer protection
from violence, racism, and other forms of abuse, so do
they have the right to expect a learning environment free from the
influence of illegal drugs.
What Are the Risks?
Schools should proceed with caution before testing students
for drugs. Screenings are not 100 percent accurate, so every positive
screen should be followed by a laboratory-based confirming
test. Before going ahead with tests, schools should also have a
good idea of precisely what drugs their students are using. Testing
for just one set of illegal drugs when others pose an equal or
greater threat would do little to address a school’s drug problem.
Confidentiality is a major concern with students and their parents.
Schools have a responsibility to respect students’ privacy, so
it is vital that only the people who need to know the test results
see them—parents and school administrators, for example. The
results should not be shared with anyone else, not even teachers.
Last Updated: September 20, 2002
