Regarding the Sunday letter “Education needed for school board”: Before contemplating the letter against school drug testing, the reader needs to understand what the organization Common Sense for Drug Policy stands for. The organization promotes the legalization of illegal drugs to include the decriminalization of the use of hard drugs.
I have been implementing drug-free workplaces for 17 years. Random drug testing works. Workplaces have experienced dramatic decline in drug use, incidents and negative impacts.
Involvement in after-school programs does reduce teenager illegal drug use. However, they will still face peer pressure to use or not use illegal drugs. When a teen is subject to testing, they can use it as an excuse to address the peer pressure and not use illegal drugs. If they use, the first illegal drug a teen will encounter is most likely marijuana, which if it were up to the organization, would be legalized. It is easily detected by testing. It is absurd to think that a teen instead of trying marijuana for the first time would move to methamphetamine or cocaine because it is harder to detect.
The writer is also correct that there are products which thwart drug testing. Most methods can be defeated in a well-developed and implemented drug-testing program.
Finally, alcohol use is the most common mind altering chemical teens will use. It is capable of being detected in a urinalysis, but not as effectively as illegal drugs. However, alcohol is the easiest drug to detect the effects of on teenager after they have been drinking. The signs of alcohol impairment are obvious and any teenager who has been drinking will smell of the alcohol. Only nave, absent or ignorant parents will not detect the odors or impairment when their teenager comes home.
Ken George
Everett
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