At a Monday work session, conversation among school and district administrators in Colorado Springs centered around drug testing at Cheyenne High School.

An Aug. 3 article by Sue McMillan of The Gazette provided the following details:

Amid some frank conversations about such things as Whizzinators, a device with many imitators to make fake urine to fool drug tests, and scary stories from drug court, the Cheyenne Mountain School District 12 board kept returning to these key points: Will random drug testing deter drug use and help the district find teens who need help to get clean?

"I think we need to digest all the information we got tonight and decide whether we want to move forward from the conceptual level, which is where weve been for several months," said Superintendent Walt Cooper. "Can we do this? Should we do this? I dont know the outcome."

Board member Rich Young and drug court Magistrate Lisa Kirkman agreed that drug testing is a deterrent, The Gazette reported, but school officials are still working to develop an appropriate program.

Labels: schools, drug testing

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It's not for everyone. But Stacey, who suspected her teenage daughter was drinking and lying about it, felt a home Breathalyzer was the right choice. She began making her daughter blow into it every time she came home - whether from a football game, a date, a school dance, or a movie.

"While much attention has been focused on preventing teenagers from drinking and driving, a Breathalyzer at home allows parents to determine whether their child has been drinking in other situations as well... Their use, as well as the use of drug tests, is catching on among parents concerned that their teens are drinking or using drugs."

Stacey's daughter admits that, when the Breathalyzer first appeared in their home, she thought her mom was "evil." But now, as a freshman in college, she feels like she has more mature attitude about drinking and realizes how serious the consequences can be. Source: Chicago Tribune

Labels: prevention, drug testing, consequences

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School districts in Connecticut have had to face the fact that drug use is increasing among middle- and high-school students. In light of that fact, school districts are determining the best ways to respond.

"...Trumbull Public Schools and other school districts require students to take breath tests before they enter a school dance... The Darien Public School system is considering giving its middle- and high-school students a survey next year to find out about issues facing them, including substance abuse."

Districts also work with local drug coalitions and some schools employ full-time substance abuse counselors. Source: The Connecticut Post

Labels: schools, drug testing, public_schools

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In recent years, drug testing has become an increasingly popular way for parents to find out if their kids are using drugs. However, Sharon Levy, an assistant profession at Harvard Medical School, says the test can be inaccurate.

"In 2001, her group started researching the reliability of these tests. In their most recent study, published in the April issue of Pediatrics, 12 percent of the teenagers in their [substance abuse] program who took tests for drugs such as marijuana, amphetamines, cocaine, benzodiazepines, and opiates had an initial false result."

Diluted samples are the most common cause for an inaccurate drug test. It seems to be a well-known fact that drinking lots of water before a drug test dilutes the sample enough to affect the test results. Some tests also come back with a false positive result, because the person is taking over-the-counter or prescribed medication. Read more at USNews.com.

Labels: parents, drug testing

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

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The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has designated April as Alcohol Awareness Month. The purpose is to not only raise awareness, but give people an opportunity to be tested for signs of alcoholism.

"To recognize the serious problem of alcohol abuse... April 8 marks the annual observance of National Alcohol Screening Day. At locations across the United States, people can be screened  anonymously  to see if their drinking habits may be risky."

More than 203,000 people participated last year at over 5,400 screening sites nationwide. Read more online.

Labels: alcohol, awareness, drug testing

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The Pequannock High School recently approved a new "Monday Test" that can determine if students had been drinking for up to 80 hours prior to the test. The tests will take place each Monday, but testing is voluntary and will not be forced.

"...students who test positive will not be kicked off sports teams or barred from extracurricular activities. Instead they will receive counseling, and their parents will be notified."

This is not the first school district to implement such tests. Alcohol and drug testing has been implement in several other states, including Texas. Pequannock implemented drug testing in 2005 and has seen a dramatic reduction is drug use among the school's students. Read more at DailyRecord.com.

Labels: high school, students, drug testing

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Random drug testing in high schools may cause a slight short-term reduction in drug abuse among students, but it has no long-range impact, according to a new report from the Department of Education.

• Researchers studied 36 high schools.
• In half the schools, students underwent random drug testing; students were not tested in the other schools.
• Random testing reduced drug use from 22% to 17% among students enrolled in athletics and other extracurricular activities.
• However, the tests had no impact on other students, and no impact on their plans to use drugs in the future.

Thirty-six percent of students reported using drugs in the past month, and 33% said they would "probably" or "definitely" use drugs in the future.

The implication of this study is that random drug testing is not an effective means of reducing student drug use.
 

Labels: schools, students, drug testing

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