cannabisnews.com: A Phony Fix A Phony Fix Posted by CN Staff on October 11, 2003 at 08:57:11 PT Editorial Source: Boston Globe Boston's heroin epidemic will not be solved by random drug testing in the public schools. The proposal, touted at a meeting this week of New England governors, would divert money and energy that is far better directed at education, massive drug treatment, and targeted police enforcement. Despite the new rage for the idea in Washington, the White House drug czar, John Walters, got it wrong when he said drug testing could be "the silver bullet" in addressing heroin abuse. The Bush administration is hosting a summit on Oct. 30 to promote student drug testing, and the Supreme Court ruled last year that testing athletes and members of extracurricular clubs does not violate students' constitutional rights. But research on the efficacy of drug testing in schools is extremely thin.The most recent report, published in the Journal of School Health in April and supported by a grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, found that "drug testing of any kind, including for cause or suspicion, was not a significant predictor for marijuana or other illicit drug use in any of the samples" in more than 600 schools it surveyed.The report also said a standard urine test to detect the presence of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and barbiturates costs between $14 and $40 per sample, which might explain why drug tests are being conducted in a relatively small number of schools. Interestingly, two former Drug Enforcement Agency chiefs from the Ford and Reagan administrations, Robert DuPont and Peter Besinger, have teamed up to form a drug testing company that contracts with private employers.At the governors' meeting, Governor Romney said he had not yet decided on drug testing in Massachusetts schools. He should not let his head be turned by Washington officials promoting this nonsolution.Romney also vowed to bolster the drug treatment and education programs that have been decimated by state budget cuts over the last two years. He could start in Framingham, where the only detox center in the Metro West area shut down in June because of state budget cuts, or in Quincy or Boston, where other longtime programs have been shuttered. Obtusely, the Massachusetts Legislature voted to cut funding for methadone programs last spring. "Heroin is the one illicit drug for which we have excellent treatment, and yet we don't use it," said David Rosenbloom, director of Join Together, a drug abuse program at Boston University.The drug problem in Massachusetts is real. Large supplies of cheap heroin are flooding into Boston and other cities, creating a new generation of addicts, tearing apart families, and destroying lives. Quick-fix schemes to test all school students for drugs are an insulting substitute for effective action.Source: Boston Globe (MA)Published: October 11, 2003Copyright: 2003 Globe Newspaper CompanyContact: letter globe.comWebsite: http://www.boston.com/globe/Related Article:Drug Czar Recommends Drug Testing in Schools http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17508.shtmlCannabisNews Drug Testing Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/drug_testing.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by CorvallisEric on October 11, 2003 at 14:32:18 PT Virgil How about Cannabis Prohibition promotes demon-ice. At least in Hawaii;) [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Dankhank on October 11, 2003 at 13:05:57 PT: It's all good ... Virgil, mayhap you have stumbled on the key ...Medicate, then Pontificate ...Works for me ... :-) Hemp N Stuff [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Virgil on October 11, 2003 at 13:00:56 PT Good grief again & I need a joint again After this post I am switching to writing in Word and read everything at least once. Comment1 should say Walters is insulated by the press and Cannabis Prohibition is demonic. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Virgil on October 11, 2003 at 12:53:22 PT Wrong Way Walters John Walters, got it wrong when he said drug testing could be "the silver bullet" in addressing heroin abuse.It is good to see the exposure of Walter's error-filled thinking exposed to the public. This is completely different than the usual regurgitation of officialdom officialeze. I do not want to get carried away with this analagy about electricity, but Walter's is someone that is grounded by the press. Now in my head, I believe that if you are standing on a rubber mat you can touch any one wire in your house. Now if you touch a hot wire and then another wire or step off your mat onto a path to a ground, that electricity will fry you. It is like Walters is out there attatched to 220 volts and the press furnishes him a rubber mat. At least this article zapped him a little by touching a reality wire to him.Cannabis Prohibition is not ordained by any god.Cannabis Prohibition is demonice.It is nice to have an article from the real world instead of fantacyland. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment