National Drug Control Strategy
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.
The DaytaTree Team