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Making Sense of Student Drug Testing
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Written by Fatema Gunja, Alexandra Cox,
Marsha Rosenbaum, PhD and Judith Appel, JD
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Comprehensive, rigorous, and respected research shows that there
are many reasons why random student drug testing is not good
policy:
• Drug testing is not effective in deterring drug use among
young people;
• Drug testing is expensive, taking away scarce dollars
from other, more effective programs that keep young
people out of trouble with drugs;
• Drug testing can be legally risky, exposing schools to
potentially costly litigation;
• Drug testing may drive students away from extracurricular
activities, which are a proven means of helping students
stay out of trouble with drugs;
• Drug testing can undermine relationships of trust
between students and teachers and between parents and
their children;
• Drug testing can result in false positives, leading to the
punishment of innocent students;
• Drug testing does not effectively identify students who
have serious problems with drugs; and
• Drug testing may lead to unintended consequences, such
as students using drugs that are more dangerous but less
detectable by a drug test, and learning the wrong lessons
about their constitutional rights.
There are alternatives to drug testing which emphasize education,
discussion, counseling, extracurricular activities, and
build trust between students and adults.
Making Sense of Student Drug Testing
RANDOM DRUG TESTING DOES NOT
DETER DRUG USE
Largest National Study Shows Drug Testing Fails
The first large-scale national study on student drug testing found
no difference in rates of drug use between schools that have drug
testing programs and those that do not.1 Based on data collected
between 1998 and 2001 from 76,000 students nationwide in 8th,
10th, and 12th grades, the study found that drug testing did not have
an impact on illicit drug use among students, including athletes.
Dr. Lloyd D. Johnston, an author of the study, directs Monitoring
the Future, the leading survey by the federal government of
trends in student drug use and attitudes about drugs. According to
Dr. Johnston, “[The study] suggests that there really isn’t an
impact from drug testing as practiced…I don’t think it brings
about any constructive changes in their attitudes about drugs or
their belief in the dangers associated with using them.”2
Published in the April 2003 Journal of School Health, the study
was conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan and
funded in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Why Educators Are Saying No
The strongest predictor of student drug use, the study’s authors
note, is students’ attitudes toward drug use and their perceptions of
peer use. The authors recommend policies that address “these key
values, attitudes, and perceptions” as effective alternatives to drug
testing.3 The results of the national study are supported by numerous
surveys and studies that examine the effectiveness of different
options for the prevention of student drug misuse.4
Set against the evidence from this national study and expert opinion,
a handful of schools claim anecdotally that drug testing has
reduced drug use. The only formal study to claim a reduction in
drug use was based on a snapshot of six schools and was suspended
by the federal government for lack of sound methodology.
Read More
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| TESTIMONIALS |
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