RSS Feeds: Drug Testing in Schools
Most, if not all, of us have heard about employers who require their employees to undergo random or scheduled drug testing. They require that employees submit themselves to a drug test as part of pre-employment requirements, compliance to random testing policies, an investigation on reasonable suspicion of drug use, post-accident requirements, return to duty policies, or follow-up procedures. More often than not, the samples submitted by or gathered from the subjects are tested for prohibited and controlled substances like amphetamines, cocaine, marijuana, opiates, alcohol, and PCPs.
There are a growing number of schools, from elementary all the way to universities, which have started to follow the drug testing models established in the workplace. Different schools are now taking steps to develop defined rules and guidelines in order to standardize testing for drug use among students, especially on those who participate in competitive extracurricular activities. Testing for drugs among students is often done randomly, however, random drug tests can only be done on those who are involved in extracurricular activities, such as team sports, cheerleading, and various clubs. Students can be subjected to direct drug tests when there is reasonable suspicion or cause for drug use.
High Schools especially have started to implement random drug testing policies as part of an effort to discourage drug use among students. Many school administrators believe that students will see drug tests as a form of determent and discourage students from giving into peer pressure and not use drugs. School administrators also use drug tests to help in identifying which students have started to use drugs so that necessary interventions can be done as early as possible. Through drug tests, school authorities can identify students who already have drug problems early in life. In this manner, students who have problems with drug dependence can be referred to experts for treatment as soon as possible, hopefully before it's too late, and a lifelong addiction destroys their life.
School administrators should never take testing for drugs as a stand alone means of addressing drug problems. Should a school board or council decide to implement a drug testing policy, they should see to it that drug testing will become part of a comprehensive prevention, intervention, and treatment program – the goal of which is to reduce or discourage drug use among students. It should also be more than Nancy Reagan's Just Say No campaign.
School authorities must not forget that the purpose of a drug test policy is not to punish students who use prohibited and controlled substances. The real rationale behind drug testing is to help students who are proven to be drug users stop the habit of using illegal drugs.
Further, the results of drug tests and screenings should be used as a means of intervention among students who have not yet developed problems with drug use. Results should also be used as tools to determine ways of referring students with drug use problems to experts who can guide them through effective drug treatment programs to begin their recovery process, even if they only see themselves as recreational or casual drug users.
About the Author
Trimega Labs is the industry leader in hair drug testing.
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