ISLAND VOICES
School drug testing: It's time for action

By Peter B. Carlisle

Peter B. Carlisle is the prosecuting attorney for the City and County of Honolulu.

Students could be steered into appropriate drug education, counseling and treatment.

The time for drug testing in schools is now.

Drugs — particularly ice (crystal methamphetamine) — are one of Hawai'i's most serious problems. As with any problem, the sooner it is dealt with, the better. If nothing is done, it will get worse.

The first line of defense to drug abuse is the functional family. Sadly, there are scores of dysfunctional families in Hawai'i and elsewhere. There are families where drug abusing, physically abusive, uninvolved, disinterested and inadequate parents are the norm.

The children of such families are at great risk of self-destructive behaviors. They are also sources of negative peer pressure for other children. Put bluntly, bad kids put good kids at risk. And don't let any Pollyanna tell you there are no bad kids.

The second line of defense to drug abuse is the schoolhouse. After their life at home, this is the place where children spend most of their time. It is here where they associate and interact with their peers, mentors and teachers. It is also a place where they can learn about or become involved in the self-destructive behaviors of substance abuse.

The last and most drastic line of defense is intervention by law enforcement and the criminal justice system, with forced treatment or incarceration.

So an ideal place to start dealing with the problem of substance abuse by children is the schoolhouse. It is a place where children from dysfunctional families are removed from that environment. It is a place where they can learn from functional adults whose mission is to train, teach and mentor.

Several years ago, Harry Connick, the Orleans Parish district attorney in Louisiana, put together a coalition to begin a pilot program: the New Orleans Public High School Drug Testing and Assistance Program. The goal of the program was that by deterring young adults from beginning or continuing drug use and identifying young adults who are involved in drug use, they could be steered into appropriate drug education, counseling and treatment.

The intent of the program was to:

• Establish a drug-free and safe learning environment for all students.

• Identify high school students involved in substance abuse.

• Provide professional assessment of those students who are drug users.

• Provide professional assistance through treatment.

• Promote a school environment that will reduce and eliminate peer pressure to use drugs.

• Improve overall academic performance of high school students by reducing the detention, suspension and expulsion rates.

• Deter high school students from involvement in the criminal justice system.

The program promised to provide:

• Program-funded drug testing using hair analysis.

• Manpower assistance to implement the program.

• No-cost substance abuse assessments and services for those students who test positive.

The program was not implemented as a tool for the expulsion of or the detection and criminal prosecution of student drug users. A student would never be suspended or expelled from school based on a positive drug test result. School personnel would not initiate criminal charges or other legal action based on a positive drug test. School personnel were required to ensure that testing results were never a part of the academic record of a student. And confidentiality was to be fully maintained.

Mandatory drug testing was implemented in a number of private schools with positive results. The principal of Pope John II High School stresses, "we are not here to catch and condemn, but instead to educate and liberate our teenagers in order to live clean, healthy lives."

The president of De La Salle High School reports that they tested over 2,000 heads of hair. "Fewer than 2 percent of the students test positive for the first time and 98 percent of these do not test positive again. Detentions for fighting have been reduced by 85 percent and those for disruptive behavior decreased 65 percent." Mandatory drug testing works.

The principal of Mount Carmel Academy stresses the deterrent effect of the program since students can resist negative peer pressure by saying, "I can't use drugs because my school has mandatory drug testing."

Is the program constitutional? Yes. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that suspicionless drug testing is constitutional if there is a "compelling state interest" justifying the tests. Hawai'i has a drug problem. It is in our schools.

We can wring our hands and worry about the current state of our schools and the future our children will live in, or we can actually do something about the problem. The time to act is now.