Adolescent Time Use, Risky Behaviors and Outcomes
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
This government study shows a vastly disproportionate incidence of adolescent drug use and other dangerous behavior occurs during the unsupervised hours between the end of classes and parent’s arrival home in the evening.
American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement: Testing for Drugs of Abuse in Children and Adolescents
Committee on Substance Abuse
This policy 1996 statement, reaffirmed in 2006, outlines the American Academy of Pediatrics’ opposition to random student drug testing and its position that the appropriate response to the suspicion of drug abuse by a young person is the referral to a qualified health care professional for a comprehensive evaluation.
American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement: Testing for Drugs of Abuse in Children and Adolescents: Addendum—Testing in Schools and at Home
Committee on Substance Abuse and Council on School Health
This March 2007 addendum to the 1996 AAP Policy Statement, “Testing for Drugs of Abuse in Children and Adolescents,” opposes involuntary drug testing of adolescents at school or at home and believes more research is needed on both the safety and effectiveness before testing programs are implemented. The AAP encourages parents who are concerned that their child may be using drugs or alcohol to consult their child’s pediatrician rather than rely on school or home-based drug testing.
American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement: The Role of Schools in Combating Illicit Substance Abuse
Council on School Health and Committee on Substance Abuse
In their second policy statement on the subject in 2007, the American Academy of Pediatrics reaffirmed their opposition to student drug testing, holding: “Physicians should not support drug testing in schools … [because] it has not yet been established that drug testing does not cause harm.”
American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement: Use of Performance-Enhancing Substances
Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness
The American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement warns that testing for steroids is costly, unlikely to be effective and fails to provide a “framework or guidelines for resolving the conflict between the drive to win and the imperative to do the right thing.” Programs that teach sound nutrition and training practices along with the skills to resist the social pressures to use performance-enhancing substances are preferred alternatives to drug testing.
American Academy of Pediatrics: Sports Shorts: Performance-Enhancing Substances
The American Academy of Pediatrics
The American Academy of Pediatrics has produced an education chart regarding performance-enhancing substances for physicians, parents, coaches and athletes.
The Association for Addiction Professionals Position Statement: Adolescent Drug Testing
The Association for Addiction Professionals
NAADAC questions the benefits and efficacy of random student drug testing programs, and asks whether they are the most prudent use of funds for addressing addictive disorder issues among adolescents.
American Bar Association Lesson Plan: Teaching about Drug Testing in Schools
The Association for Addiction Professionals
The American Bar Association’s lesson plan for high school students is designed to help students express their opinions about student drug testing, examine arguments in favor and against the policy and discuss consequences of implementing or rejecting drug testing in schools.
Blowing Smoke: Why Random Drug Testing Doesn’t Reduce Student Drug Use
Ryan Grim
This 2006 Slate article overviews the role of evidence in the debate about student drug testing is effective in the White House’s push for widespread use of the program.
Compensating Behavior and the Drug Testing of High School Athletes
Robert Taylor
This article published in the Cato Journal explores the potential negative impacts of student drug testing, and argues that drug testing may actually lead to an increase in overall drug use.
Drug Testing of Adolescents in Ambulatory Medicine: Physician Practices and Knowledge
Sharon Levy, Sion Kim Harris, Lon Sherritt, and others
This 2006 study published in the Achieves of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that most physicians administering drug tests to students do not have enough training to ensure test results are correct and unadulterated. The study raises the concern that few schools will have sufficient staff with proper training to implement drug testing and few physicians will be able to help.
Drug Testing Bibliography
Jennifer Johnson-Spence
A collection of articles and studies on drug testing.
Drug Testing in Schools: Evidence, Impacts and Alternatives
The Australian National Council on Drugs
This March 2008 report concludes that, “there is insufficient evidence to support the use of drug testing as a deterrent for drug use in schools.” The report holds that drug tests are insufficiently reliable for testing in the school setting and takes a detailed look at the significant costs of implementing the programs. The researchers describe an array of effective prevention interventions now available to schools – interventions that focus on building positive relations and developing students' sense of connectedness with the school.
Drug Testing in Schools: Policies, Practices, and the Association With Student Drug Use
Ryoko Yamaguchi, Lloyd D. Johnston, and Patrick M. O’Malley
This study, done in part in response to critiques of their first study by proponents of student drug testing, including the White House, takes a more detailed look at the impact of different drug testing programs on student drug use. The YES study confirmed the authors’ original conclusions, finding that random student drug testing programs have not had a noticeable impact on student drug use.
Drug Testing of Students: A Legal and Public Health Perspective
Floralynn Einesmann, JD and Howard Taras, MD
This article in the spring 2007 Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy analyzes whether or not drug testing is a valid public health screen. (Full text available with journal subscription.)
Ethics of Research Involving Mandatory Drug Testing of High School Athletes in Oregon
Adil Shamoo and Jonathan Moreno
This article published in the 2004 American Journal of Bioethics examines the question can research can be conducted with high school students in conjunction with a mandatory drug testing program, while adhering to prevailing ethical standards regarding human-subjects research and specifically the participation of children in research.
Friend-of-the-Court brief of American Academy of Pediatrics, et al in support of Lindsay Earls
Drug Policy Alliance
This friend-of-the-court brief submitted to the United States Supreme Court by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Education Association and other prominent national associations in support of Lindsay Earls in her challenge to her school district's student drug testing program. The brief argues that student drug testing is counter-productive, and stresses the importance of extracurricular activities in preventing students from using drugs.
In Need of a Plan B to Deter Young Athletes From Drug Use
William C. Rhoden
This article reports on a study released in the October 2007 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health that challenges the deeply held, or at least hopeful, notion that high school drug testing is a deterrent.
National Association of Social Worker’s Position on Drug Testing in Schools
The National Association of Social Workers
This press release describes random drug testing as both invasive and counterproductive to combating drug and alcohol abuse in schools.
National School Boards Association’s Student Drug Testing Resource Guide
The National School Boards Association
This guide provides an overview on the issue, including the number of schools performing tests, and answers frequently asked questions on the issue.
Outcomes of a Prospective Trial of Student-Athlete Drug Testing: The Student Athlete Testing Using Random Notification (SATURN) Study
Linn Goldberg, Diane Elliot, David MacKinnon, and others
In November 2007, researchers from Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) published research findings from randomized experimental trials that found random drug and alcohol testing did not reliably reduce past month drug and alcohol use among student athletes. The researchers from OHSU also found attitudinal changes among students in schools with drug testing programs indicate new risk factors for future substance use.
Random Student Drug Testing May Be Unconstitutional, Says Pennsylvania Supreme Court Ruling
Drug Policy Alliance
This Drug Policy Alliance fact sheet describes the implications of the 2003 Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling concerning the constitutionality of random drug testing under the higher privacy protections of the state constitution.
Random Drug Testing Not Reliable In Keeping Teen Athletes From Using
Oregon Health & Science University
This press release from Oregon Health and Science University reports on the results of a two-year randomized experimental trial published in the November 2007 Journal of Adolescent Health. The study concluded that random drug testing targeting student athletes did not reliably reduce past month drug use and, in fact, produced attitudinal changes among students that indicate new risk factors for future substance use.
Random Drug Testing in Schools
Clare Gerada and Eilish Gilvarry
This 2005 article in the British Journal of General Practice examines random student drug testing in the context of the United Kingdom and concludes that the ethical, practical, and economic risks of testing do not outweigh the potential benefits, and stresses the importance of research before widespread introduction.
Random Drug Testing of Schoolchildren: A Shot in the Arm or a Shot in the Foot for Drug Prevention?
Neil McKeganey
This 2005 report from the United Kingdom draws on evidence from the United States and examines the complex ethical and practical issues associated with student drug testing. The author systematically debunks a myriad of popular assumptions about youth and drug testing.
Relationship between Student Illicit Drug Use and School Drug-testing Policies
Ryoko Yamaguchi, Lloyd D. Johnston, and Patrick M. O'Malley
This is the first and largest study examining the impact of student drug testing programs. The authors conclude that student drug testing does not deter drug use.
A Review of Internet-Based Home drug testing Products for Parents
Sharon Levy, Shari Van Hook, and John Knight
Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston conducted a study in 2004 examining home drug testing products and the Internet-based recommendations intended for parents. They concluded that the surveyed Internet sites failed to appropriately educate parents and contained unsubstantiated claims regarding the benefits of drug testing. The study suggested parents may find it difficult to determine which testing method to use, and precisely what drugs the devices detect.
Results of Random Drug Testing in an Adolescent Substance Abuse Program
Sharon Levy, Lon Sherritt, Brigid L. Vaughan and others
This 2007 study published in Pediatrics seeks to estimate the proportion of drug tests that are susceptible to interpretation error by examining the random urine drug testing program of an outpatient substance abuse program for adolescents. The researchers found that six percent of tests were too diluted to examine, and twenty-one percent of tests were false positives, reflecting the legitimate use of over-the-counter drugs. Furthermore, standard drug testing missed two-thirds of Oxycodone use. School drug testing programs rarely parallel the rigorous standards used in the study are thus more prone to interpretation error.
Safe and Smart: Making the After-School Hours Work for Kids
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
This U.S. government study looks at the potential of after-school programs, what works, and how communities can meet the need for after-school activities.
A Systems Approach to Substance Abuse Identification and Intervention for School Counselors
Glena W. Lambie, PhD and Laurie J. Rokutani
Posted with permission of the American School Counselors Association, this research article is for school counselors.
Urineschool: A Study of the Impact of the Earls Decision on High School Random Drug Testing Policies
Cynthia Kelly Conlon
This 2003 article published in the Journal of Law and Education examines the impact the U.S. Supreme Court decision on random drug testing in schools and reports the results of a survey of high school principals regarding their reactions to the decision.
The Drug Policy Alliance
The Drug Policy Alliance is the nation's leading organization working to end the war on drugs and promote new drug policies based on science, compassion, health, and human rights.
Educators for Sensible Drug Policy
Educators for Sensible Drug Policy is a national organization of educators who think drug use should be treated as a mental health issue and not criminal behavior. The organization recognizes that children often become victims when the war on drugs is waged in schools. EFSDP is committed to combating drug testing of students who wish to participate in extra-curricular activities.
National Conference of State Legislators: Drug Testing Reports
The National Conference of State Legislatures provides an overview and a list of resources regarding random student drug testing.
Physicians and Lawyers for National Drug Policy
PLNDP is a non-partisan group of the nation's leading physicians and attorneys, whose goal is to promote and support public policy and treatment options that are scientifically-based, evidence-driven, and cost-effective. PLNDP opposes random student drug testing.
Students for Sensible Drug Policy
SSDP, an organization with more than 115 college and high school chapters nationwide, is committed to providing education on harms caused by the war on drugs, working to involve youth in the political process, and promoting an open, honest, and rational discussion of alternative solutions to our nation’s drug problems. SSDP offers talking points, background materials, and organizational assistance to students and families working to counteract drug testing programs in their school districts.
A Test You Can't Study For - Special Web Feature on Student Drug Testing
This is a special ACLU web feature on student drug testing that includes a guide for students, fact sheets, reports, and other materials.
Making Sense of Student Drug Testing: Why Educators Are Saying No