San Francisco – The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), in the March 2007 issue of their journal, Pediatrics, reaffirmed and expanded their opposition to random student drug testing. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has ignored and dismissed the criticisms of AAP and other leading experts in adolescent health as they roll out their continuing series of regional summits. These summits are aimed at convincing local educators to implement across-the-board random, suspicionless student drug testing. A contingency from the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) travels to almost every summit to provide educators with the vital information missing from these one-sided presentations. The third summit of 2007 will be held on March 27 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Despite four years of ONDCP-sponsored tours around the country promoting student drug testing, the American Academy of Pediatrics emphasizes there is little peer-reviewed evidence indicating the policy is at all effective. The AAP statement notes the only peer-reviewed study supporting testing also found that, “athletes who were drug tested experienced an increase in known risk factors for drug use, including an increase in normative views of use, belief in lower risk of use, and poorer attitudes toward school.” In contrast, the largest national study conducted to date, “found no association between school-based drug testing and student’s reported drug use.”
Told you so. Told you so. Na na na na na na! Drug-testing is an expensive, pointless feel-good measure that accomplishes nothing. A false-positive test can ruin your life. The reefer madness is ridiculous.
I've got nothing today. Sometimes blogging is such a chore.
UPDATE: Forgot to link the news stories.
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