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.

If testing can reduce students’ use of illicit drugs, it will remove a significant barrier to academic achievement.

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.

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.

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.

The expectation that they may be randomly tested is enough to make some students stop using drugs—or never start in the first place.

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.

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