The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention has published a report on “Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Among First-year College Students“.
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The NSDUH has published a report on Inhalant Use across the Adolescent Years that is based on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health conducted by the Office of Applied Studies (OAS).
The conclusions are that:
Inhalants were the most frequently reported class of illicit drugs used in the past year among adolescents aged 12 or 13 (3.4 and 4.8 percent, respectively)
Combined data for 2002 to 2006 indicated that an annual average of 593,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17 had used inhalants for the first time in the year before their survey interview
Among past year inhalant initiates aged 12 to 15, the three most commonly used types of inhalants were glue, shoe polish, or toluene; spray paints; and gasoline or lighter fluid; in comparison, nitrous oxide or whippets were the most common type of inhalant used among past year inhalant initiates aged 16 or 17
The report demonstrates that school drug testing programs need to include education about the dangers of inhalant abuse.
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The Fayetteville Observer has published an article about how Cumberland County Schools are using drug testing as a deterrent.
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The Age has published an article on the case for school drug testing.
The article also provides some useful facts:
After implementing a student drug-testing program, Hunterdon Central Regional High School in New Jersey saw a reduction in cocaine use by seniors from 13% to 4% after two years. Schools in Autauga County in Alabama experienced decreases in marijuana use from 19% to 12%. In Indiana, 85% of schools saw an increase in drug use when testing was suspended; drug use fell when testing resumed.
In addition, Columbia University’s National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse: Teens and Parents found that 67% of teenagers and 60% of parents agreed that drug tests are effective in preventing teenagers from using illegal drugs.
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Lubbock High Schools have started to implement the University Interscholastic League steriod testing program. About 90 student athletes in all sports and of both genders at Lubbock High were tested. The University Interscholastic League (UIL) is the organization that creates rules for and administers almost all athletic, music, and academic contests for public elementary and secondary schools the state of Texas. The annual testing program will include male and female students in grades 9-12 and throughout all sports, eventually covering roughly 30 percent of all UIL member high schools. Students who tests positive for anabolic steroids will be suspended for 30 days from competing in UIL-sanctioned athletic events. The students are reinstated following a negative result on a subsequent test. Students that fail a drug test a second time will receive a one-year suspension. Failing a third drug tests will result in permanent ban.
Texas Senate Bill 8 of 2007 required the UIL to implement a statewide steroid testing program that would randomly select approximately 40,000 to 50,000 athletes for testing of anabolic steroids.
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The Ontario School Board has unanimously approved the resolution giving its Drug Testing Exploration Committee permission to continue research into introducing drug testing. It is expected that all student drivers and students involved in extra-curricular activities will be subject to random drug testing beginning the 2008-2009 school year.
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The Examinar has published a detailed article on the Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education research into developing a random drug testing program.
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Lewisville Independent School District drug testing program will begin on April 14 with a pool of students drawn from 80 percent of the school population. The students will be drawn from sStudents who are part of an extracurricular activity such as sports, band, and debate teams; students that have parking permits; and students that voluntarily participate in testing. Some 75 students will be tested each week for drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, prescription painkillers or opiates, PCP, sedatives, and stimulants. Students will be requested to provide a urine sample, with failure to provide after three hours counting as a refusal. The samples will be analyzed in a laboratory. If the student fails the test the parents will be called to see if there is a reason for the failure. Retesting costs $100, which will be refunded if the confirmation test is negative.
A first offense will result in a three week activity ban and three counseling sessions. A second offense will result in a six week activity ban, ADAPT program enrollment, and weekly drug testing. A third offence results in lost privileges for an entire calendar year, family counseling sessions, and a requirement to pass a drug test prior prior to reinstating any privileges.
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The Register Mail has published a useful summary of the Illinois High School Association Drug Testing Program.
Start: 2008-09 school year.
Cost: $100,000-$150,000.
Funding source: Illinois High School Association.
Number of students tested: Between 700 and 1,000 tests during the 2008-09 school year.
Sports tested: All.
Other states that drug test athletes: New Jersey, Florida and Texas.
Banned substances: Drugs classified as stimulants, anabolic steroids, diuretics and peptide hormones and analogues. Some of the 78 substances listed include ecstasy, cocaine, steroids, amphetamines, cocaine, caffeine, testosterone and human growth hormone.
Penalties for violation: Athletes will face year suspension with a possible reduction to 90 days from the time of the positive test if they take an educational program and then submit a negative follow-up test. Team penalties will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
When will the IHSA test: Athletes tested during state tournament competition, directly following a contest.
What if my child has an illness that requires them to take a banned substance: The IHSA’s medical review officer, who has not been hired yet, will judge whether the student-athlete’s illness is valid. The athlete will not be suspended from play until the review is finished.
How much caffeine would result in positive test: About four caffeine pills or nine cups of coffee almost immediately before the test.
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Spring Valley Hall High School Board has approved an updated drug testing policy. Public opinion was solicited while developing the drug testing policy, which includes testing for nicotine as well as illegal drugs. They next step is to educated parents and students. The policy now includes all extracurricular activities, which means that about 80 per cent of students will be subject to random drug testing. Hall High School has suspended for drug and alcohol use and expelled five in the past five year. The updated policy will be implemented in 2008.
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The Daily Tribune has published an article on reducing peer pressure as the primary benefit of school drug testing.
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The Illinois High School Association has announced an innovative flexible team-penalty policy as part of its drug testing program that is due to start next academic year.
The details have been published here in the Chicago Tribune.
Illinois is the first state to impose team penalties for an individual’s positive performance-enhancing drug test.
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The Journal Gazette has published an article making the case for steriod testing in Indiana’s schools.
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A news report on New Zealand’s TV3 shows the results on students of a campaign by former police detectives about the dangers of methamphetamines. The campaign uses shock tactics that include disturbing images of the results of drug abuse.
The campaign is in response to a dramatic increase in methamphetamine abuse among 10 to 20 year olds.
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The National Drug Control Strategy 2008 Annual Report contains a case study on the schools drug testing program in Pulaski County Schools, Kentucky.
In 2005, the Pulaski County School District in Kentucky was awarded a grant by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools to facilitate random drug testing. The grant enabled the district to collaborate with the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, Kentucky Agency for Substance Abuse Policy (KY-ASAP) Regional Prevention Center, Kentucky School Board Association, local community coalitions, and the local school board to develop policies and procedures clarifying the district’s goals to reduce drug use and incorporating a comprehensive random drug testing program.
Pulaski County Schools’ random drug testing program is mandatory for student athletes and participants in competitive extracurricular programs and is also open to volunteers. Student drivers are tested using other funding sources. The program provides graduated consequences for students who test positive and, in keeping with a supportive philosophy, provides an opportunity for students to self-report and seek help before being tested. Full-time substance abuse counselors, provided through Operation Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment, and Education (UNITE), give students the individual support needed to become drug-free and stay that way. Operation UNITE works to rid communities of illegal drug use through undercover narcotics investigations, coordinated treatment for substance abusers, support to families and friends of substance abusers, and public education about the dangers of using drugs.
The comprehensive random drug testing program, which includes prevention and student assistance programming, is producing encouraging results. Of the 4,091 students enrolled in middle and high schools, 2,354 (57.5 percent) of the students volunteered to participate in the random drug testing program, in addition to the mandatory participants who are involved in extracurricular activities.
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The Cabell County School Board debate on its school drug testing policy provides an interesting reference for any school administrators developing such a policy.
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Hillsborough Board of Education has approved a high school random drug testing policy to be implemented in the 2008-2009 school year. The district will apply for federal funds to offset the cost of the program. The policy is modeled after the plan at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Raritan Township and will randomly select students participating in athletics, extracurricular activities, school clubs, and those who drive to school. The testing procedure will be a mouth swab or urine test.
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The full National Drug Control Strategy 2008 Annual Report is available for download.
The update on schools drug testing is:
Random testing gives students a powerful incentive to abstain from drug use. In schools today, most students who begin using drugs are not targeted by an unknown drug dealer. The spread of drug use throughout a school often closely mirrors the way a disease is spread—from student- to-student contact, multiplying rapidly as more and more students are affected. Random testing can provide young people with a reason never to start using drugs, protecting them during a time when they are the most vulnerable to peer pressure and the adverse health effects of drug use. Increasing numbers of employers, including the Federal Government, are randomly testing their workforces for drug use; students coming from schools with a random drug testing program will be familiar with the goals of such programs and will know the benefits of a drug-free lifestyle.
In addition to acting as a powerful deterrent and early warning signal for drug use, random testing programs are also flexible enough to respond to emerging drug trends, such as the abuse of prescription drugs—America’s biggest drug problem after marijuana. By adapting test panels to reflect current usage patterns, testing programs can easily respond to new drug threats.
By addressing the continuum of drug use from pre-initiation to drug dependency, random testing can stop the pipeline to addiction, help create a culture of disapproval toward drugs, and contribute to safer school and work environments. Random testing was first used in the military and in the workplace with great success. The ability of schools to tap into random testing’s tremendous prevention power was affirmed by the Supreme Court in landmark cases in 1995 and 2002.
Federal support for school-based random student drug testing was announced by the President in his 2004 State of the Union address. To date, more than 80 school districts have received Federal funds through U.S. Department of Education grants to help develop or maintain random testing programs in more than 400 schools. Across America, hundreds of schools have implemented random testing programs using other funding sources. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control’s 2006 School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) found that nationwide, of the 25.5 percent of districts containing middle or high schools that had adopted a student drug testing policy, over half conducted random drug testing among members of a specific group of students and more than a third had voluntary drug testing for all students. Encouragingly, the same survey reported that 72.2 percent of middle and high schools provided alcohol- or other drug-use treatment at school through health services or mental health and social services staff, and 34.9 percent made arrangements for treatment through organizations or professionals outside the school.
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Bob Leonard of the Georgetown News-Graphic has published a letter about schools drug testing that should be read by any parent trying to understand school drug testing:
Dear Bob Leonard, Cheryll Pearson, concerned parents and teachers:
Recently, as I read the Lexington Herald-Leader article on school drug testing for Scott County, I felt compelled to write this letter in hopes that it could serve as an encouragement to begin drug testing in our schools. While I feel all letters voicing opinions should have a signature attached at the end, this letter will not have one. The pain and grief that drugs have inflicted upon my family name has been great; therefore, I cannot bear to sign my name and expose my problems further.
Drug testing in schools is something we must implement if we want to save the lives of our children. My son is still alive, thank God, but his life has been wrecked by the use of illegal drugs. He was an outstanding athlete at Scott County High School during the ’90s and one of the most popular students in his class. Everyone wanted to be his friend and he thrived on his good personality and his athleticism. At age 16, he decided to try marijuana. He and his friends liked the effect of it so much that he began to smoke it every morning on his way to school. Other drugs were introduced to him throughout his high school days and he confessed to me at age 25 that he basically had tried everything. His continued use of these drugs contributed to his decision to drop out of college. At the time, I had no knowledge that my son had ever used drugs. He was very clever at covering up his drug use. I never found any evidence of them or suspected any use of drugs at all until one fateful night in 2002 when we received a call from the Fayette County Detention Center. He had been arrested with two other Scott County High School graduates for possession of cocaine. This was his first run-in with the law and the result was four weekends spent in jail, high legal fees and a misdemeanor on his record. To say we were shocked to hear this is a mild understatement. Of course, he told us that was the first time he ever used drugs and that it would never happen again. He continued to work at a nice restaurant during these years (they didn’t screen for drugs), making good money, so when he was unable to pay his apartment rent, we couldn’t understand why. He asked to move back home until he got back on his feet. That was a mistake on our part, since we became enablers at that point for his drug habit. (Still, we did not know he was still using drugs). Years passed and his financial condition never improved. Checks were stolen from my purse and forged by him to buy drugs, items of value disappeared from our home, and his personality changed into a person I barely recognized. The reality hit us that drugs must be at the center of it all. He did a fantastic job of concealing his habit from us up until this time. I rather forcefully told him to leave our home. I called the police and had my own child arrested for stolen checks, which amounted to thousands of dollars. More jail time, another misdemeanor, but he had to be stopped.
While I cannot tell his entire story within the limits of this letter, it is my desire to say that drug testing is imperative in today’s society. We must work to save our children from this evil force. I’d like to say this story has a happy ending and that my son is drug free, but I can’t. What I can say is that he holds a steady job, he is taking online college courses to try to catch up with his peers and he is trying to get his life together. However, he is considered a functioning drug addict. Some weekends he is gone all weekend with no explanation, as if we are just to accept his behavior. He’s 27 now and an adult, so the life decisions are his to make. He wishes he had never tried that first marijuana cigarette. It all began on the campus of Scott County Schools.
Sincerely,
A parent concerned for your children
The conerned parent and Bob Leonard have performed a public service with this letter.
The DaytaTree Team
Navasota Independent School District trustees have approved a random drug testing program for students involved in extracurricular activities beginning with the start of the 2008-09 school year. The board has instructed management to provide examples of testing policies from several area school districts to help draft a drug testing policy for the NISD.
The DaytaTree Team