The American Academy of Pediatrics has changed its policy on school drug testing and now says it is a bad idea. The physicians' group pointed to inaccurate results, cheating and the loss of children’s trust in adults as reasons to avoid having schools screen children for illegal drugs.

This represents a switch in the Academy's ten-year-old policy on drug testing.

Screening for drugs is a complex process prone to errors, and has not been shown to decrease children's use of illegal use, according to the new statement. This statement appears in the March issue of the Academy's journal, Pediatrics.

Labels: American Academy of Pediatrics, drug testing, drug use