I was pleased to read your coverage of student drug testing at St. Patrick High School (“Catholic school to test all kids for drugs,” Page 1, Dec. 4). Your reference to the successful student drug testing programs in Memphis and New Orleans appropriately represented the strength of this option for schools seeking to identify and get help for students with drug problems.
The study you cited from the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, which purportedly showed a lack of effect for drug testing programs, has no bearing on the kind of programs found at St. Patrick and numerous other schools throughout the country.
The ISR study overwhelmingly neglected to address regular, random drug testing, which St. Patrick will employ.
Instead, it examined minimal and infrequent efforts to test “for cause” or based on suspicion of drug use.
Many drug testing studies–conducted in schools from Oregon to New Jersey–attest to the effectiveness of properly run, non-punitive student drug testing in making schools safer and more effective learning environments.
