6/3/03 -- Drug testing of students in schools does not deter drug use, report researchers from the University of Michigan.
In the first large-scale national study to weigh the effectiveness of drug testing, researchers found that in each grade level studied -- 8, 10, and 12 -- there were virtually identical rates of drug use in schools that have drug testing programs and schools that do not.
For example, 37 percent of 12th graders in schools that have drug testing reported having used marijuana in the previous 12 months, compared to 36 percent in schools that don't.
The study looked at the results of surveys of 722 secondary schools conducted annually from 1998 through 2001. The results were reported in the Journal of School Health.
The findings challenge the premise that drug testing deters students from using drugs, which was cited in recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of drug testing in schools.
In addition to analyzing general drug use, the study also looked at drug use among specific students. In high schools that tested athletes, for example, the study found the use of marijuana by male athletes not significantly different from the use of marijuana among male athletes in non-testing schools.
There was no significant difference among heavy marijuana users -- students who said they had used marijuana 20 or more times -- in schools that test for drugs and schools that don't.
The study also found no significant difference in drug use rates between schools that carry out random drug testing on all students and those that have no testing or non-random testing.
NSBA attorney Naomi Gittins notes that while the study compares drug use among schools, "it does not examine whether schools experienced a drop in student drug use after implementing a drug testing program."
According to the study, about 19 percent of U.S. secondary schools have some form of student drug testing. Most commonly, schools carry out drug testing only when there is evidence or a suspicion that a student had been using an illicit drug. Fourteen percent of all schools test students "for cause."
Only 5 percent of schools test athletes, 4 percent test students who volunteer for testing, 4 percent test students on probation, and 2 percent test students in extracurricular activities.
Public and private secondary schools are about equally likely to use drug testing, but high schools are considerably more likely to do so than middle schools, the study finds. Schools where the majority of students are African-American or Hispanic are slightly less likely to practice drug testing than predominantly white schools.
"We think that one reason that so few schools test their students for drugs is that it is an expensive undertaking," says co-author Lloyd D. Johnston, a social scientist at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research.
"Schools are very pressed for funds, and I would say that the results of our investigation raise a serious question of whether drug testing is a wise investment of their scarce resources," Johnston says. "It's also very controversial with a lot of parents and students."
A year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Tecumseh, Okla., school district's policy to subject students who participate in extracurricular activities to random, suspicionless drug testing.
That decision expands on a 1995 ruling that affirmed the constitutionality of the Vernonia, Ore., school district's use of random drug testing for student athletes.
In both cases, the court cited the districts' primary object of deterring drug use, rather than disciplining students for drugs.
NSBA had filed briefs in both cases on behalf of the school districts. NSBA believes it should be up to school board discretion to determine whether to use drug testing.
Regardless of the recent study questioning the value of drug testing, the practice remains legal.
Gittins advises school districts to consider the recent findings as one factor when deciding whether to embark on a testing program.