Q & A: Drug Testing

Q: The March 18th, 2004 seminar held in Fresno has been used as a "weapon" to ridicule the "Michigan study" that showed that drug use was not reduced by implementing a mandatory, random drug testing program. Do you have response to those charges? A: We assume that you refer to the recent federally sponsored gathering that promoted forced random drug testing of all high school students? Discrediting responsible scientific research because it contradicts policies promoted by the Office of National Drug Policy (ONDCP) is an example of how "zero tolerance" works to suppress relevant information. The Michigan study, "Drug Testing in Schools: Policies, Practices, and Association with Student Drug Use," by R. Yamaguchi and colleagues, is a valid study done by eminent researchers. The authors duly note limitations of the study as is required in all legitimate scientific research reports. Nevertheless, the study clearly places the burden of proof on the agencies promoting this kind of intrusive surveillance of American youth. It also raises the next issue that should be researched - that drug testing for marijuana is likely to promote "…a larger proportional increase in the use of other drugs…" (p. 15). These other drugs include alcohol and cocaine or its derivatives; substances that remain in the system for relatively short periods of time. Alcohol is already the second leading cause of death in adolescent males. What would be gained by a questionable strategy that, in effect, defines all American young people as criminal suspects? Q: How long does it take to get the marijuana out of the system? A: The infrequent smoker will usually test negative in 48-72 hours; although 3-5 day positives can occur. The frequently reported 2-3 week positives occur only in heavy (3-5 joints per day) users. To ensure a negative test for marijuana, one should abstain for three weeks. For more information, please visit: www.norml.org. Q: I had a urine drug test and it showed positive for morphine. I have never taken morphine, but I do take Tussenex suppression, Percocet, Tylenol 3, Lidoderm patches, and many more. Please help. I am really confused. Thank you. A: Percocet will produce a positive urine test (for morphine), as may one of the other medications you're taking. If these substances are prescribed by a physician for a medical condition, you should let the drug testers know. Q: My son's school doesn't do random drug testing. However, he was recently tested when another student claimed that my son and some other boys left school (after school) and purchased drugs. The tests were all negative, but the plan that a test will be done whenever there is an accusation remains. This feels like harassment. The principal says they have to be “safe.” The “whistle blower” is always protected and I find myself very frustrated. Any suggestions or feedback would be appreciated. A: Your frustration is understandable. Your principal exercised questionable professional judgment. Here’s why. Encouraging “snitching” by students on other students is divisive to the school community and encourages reporting false or inaccurate information, just as it did in the case of your son. Despite the assurances of the principal, snitching is dangerous, and can be used to get even with someone. The student who is named may have a good idea about who might have done it, or may make a wrong guess and “get back at” an innocent party. Even in the case of false information, there is embarrassment to the student(s) who are named. What are they going to think about their school after such an experience? In the case of your son, the principal was taking responsibility for regulating behavior after school hours and away from the campus. This is the job of parents (or the police), not the school. School discipline should be concerned only with behavior at school, which is a big enough job in and of itself. You can do something about this policy though the Parent Teacher Association or finding other parents who agree with you. You have good reason to be more than frustrated. A formal complaint to the District Superintendent and School Board is justified. It will help if you can recruit other parents in this effort. Q: Can a school require a student to take a drug test when the school does not have a drug testing program/policy? A: It depends on how the school plans to use that drug test. Before a school can act to discipline or punish a student, it needs to have procedures, rules, and regulations in place that can be followed in a consistent manner. If a school does not have a drug-testing program, it would seem to me that it might also lack procedures, etc., that would protect this student from being acted against in an arbitrary manner. We recommend that you learn more about whether the student is being required to take a drug test, simply being asked to do so, and why — and how many other students are being asked the same thing, and why, and by whom. Q: Would steroids show up on a random urine test for other, more common, illegal drugs? A: Steroid use would come up on a drug test only if the test looked specifically for steroids. For more information about the “mechanics” of drug testing, please check out this article. Q: Do Student Assistance Programs (SAPs) drug test, aside from being a referral source? A: Student Assistance Programs vary widely in the breath of problems addressed as well as the assistance provided. However, SAPs are much more than a “referral source.” Many provide counseling and support groups for students. Some include drug education. None of these services constitute “treatment” for substance abuse. Most troubled youth, whether because of alcohol or drug abuse or other problems, do not need drug or other “treatment,” but can benefit from less formal approaches to assistance that help them identify the negative factors underlying their behavior and learn deal with those factors on their own. Drug testing is a technical, laboratory-based service. It is not part of student assistance programming. Some drug treatment agencies do testing, especially if their clients are outpatients. Schools that use drug testing contract with outside businesses for the chemical analyses, but school personnel usually collect samples (urine, skin, hair, etc.) The National Student Assistance Association cautions that drug testing should only be done when assistance is available and never for the purpose of punishment. Our view at Safety First is that random drug testing of all or even specific groups of students (such as those involved in extra-curricular activities) is inappropriate for a variety of reasons. However, we do not object to testing when there is probable cause, but see this as a decision to be made by parents rather than school administrators. Q: Is drug testing a productive way to keep my kids off drugs? A: No. Drug testing is not a proven and effective drug prevention tool. In fact, drug testing can actually push students away from one of the most effective known prevention tools—healthy relationships with adults and their peers. Drug testing can be intrusive and humiliating for students, and can make students mistrust the adults who administer the tests. Additionally, if a student must submit to a drug test prior to participating in an extracurricular activity, that drug test might act as a barrier to participation in that activity. Students might also be excluded from such an activity if they test positive for drugs. Extracurricular activities are one of the most effective known deterrents to drug abuse; these activities not only occur at the time of day when students are most likely to use drugs, but they also help to foster healthy and positive relationships between students and their peers that help to prevent those students from using drugs. The secrecy and mistrust created by drug testing could only lead to isolation, increased substance abuse, and in some cases, serious health and safety risks. Often the most reliable form of detecting teenage drug use is through personal, confidential conversations that take place between young people and adults they trust. If a young person is able to speak in confidence with an adult they trust about their drug use, then they might be able to get the help they deserve. Alcohol and tobacco abuse by young people is one of the more serious issues facing high school students today. The most frequently used form of drug testing—urinalysis—does not always detect alcohol or tobacco use. Therefore, drug testing programs are not only an ineffective deterrent to drug use, they do not encompass all forms of drug use that take place amongst young adults. Young people use drugs for a variety of reasons. Parents and other adults who are concerned about their child’s drug use should be able to initiate a conversation with their child or student about their drug use that is honest and open and addresses the individual circumstances and ramifications of their use. Drug testing could prevent those productive conversations from taking place. Q: If an employee comes to work and appears to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, do we have the right to send him/her for an immediate drug test? Or do we just send him/her home for the day? A: The company may make the demand to submit to a drug test particularly if it is under Federal or Department of Transportation guidelines. The ability to do so will depend largely on company policy (or its absence) in the private workplace, the intrusion of which a good union contract would prevent. The Constitution was designed to protect our rights from the government, not our employers. Q: Can the antidepressant EFFEXOR XR make you test positive for cocaine in a drug test? A: There is no chemical that gives a false positive for cocaine in a screening/confirmed cocaine test.