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Random Drug Testing in High Schools

Drug Tests run a very fine line between the privacy of the individual and the right of the authorities of maintaining a drug free environment in their establishments. The issue is a debatable one and there are no clear winners. But there is a middle ground. Drug Tests are meant to discourage the practice of drug use. The fear of facing the consequences for not being able to pass a drug test is supposed to discourage drug use. What better place to start this than high schools – to nip the habit in the bud. This will prevent the graduation of today’s mild drug users into addicts of the future. There are many problems associated with the use of drugs. These include chronic absenteeism and under performance; aggressive, violent and accident prone behavior; tendency to steal in order to find money to buy drugs etc. At a higher level, drug use creates the reason for the existence of drug cartels and their violent and illegal activities. All this can be prevented by drug tests.

On the other side is the issue of privacy, false positives and the common knowledge of how to beat a drug test. Many students see random drug tests in high schools as an invasion of privacy and a sort of humiliation as well. Some fear that this may be the first step towards more obtrusive surveillance in the future. Then there is the issue of false positives when non-users test positive because they have consumed certain foods and medicines. This is a bane for the innocent and a possible getaway for the guilty. The common nature of drug tests has also made common knowledge of certain facts. Students know how to beat the test for e.g. the azo cranberry pills drug test. Conversely the anxiety to pass a drug test can drive a student desperate who can use unproven techniques and get into serious health trouble.

Random drug tests in high schools face additional criticism of not being equal – a non-user may be tested while a user may go untested. This is true, but the test does succeed in discouraging drug use. The middle ground will be to conduct random tests only on a referral basis and after consent has been obtained from the parents of the student. The reference has to be based on observed behavior by teachers, fellow students and some other selected school employees.