State PTA Backs Ban on Random Drug Testing

Across America, the PTA has long fought to prevent student drug use, but last month its California leaders found themselves sparring with federal drug officials in the state Capitol.

The two sides squared off in an Assembly hearing over a bill that would outlaw “suspicionless” drug testing. A handful of schools in California and nationwide have begun testing students without any evidence of drug use, and the PTA opposes it.

“As parents, we’re certainly concerned about addressing issues of student drug abuse,” said Kathy Moffat, a spokeswoman for the California State PTA. “But a random drug-testing program implies there is no trust.”

Before the Assembly panel, Moffat read a statement explaining her organization’s support for the proposed testing ban.

From the opposite side of the hearing room, Dr. Andrea Barthwell, then-deputy director for demand reduction in the Office of National Drug Control Policy, delivered the White House’s position in favor of testing.

Bush administration officials say suspicionless tests could be a “silver bullet” to curtail a public health “epidemic.”

Barthwell explained later that she had made the trip to the hearing to clear up a misunderstanding. Parents, students and teachers mistakenly view random tests as invasive, she said, but -- like vision or tuberculosis screens -- they are an effective means to address a universal public health threat.

One opponent of the bill, Assemblyman Mark Wyland (R-Escondido), said that in some districts, violence and drug abuse get in the way of learning, and it does not make sense to limit the tools that schools can use to fight the problem.

The bill, written by state Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara), passed the Senate in May on a 27-10 vote. After the hearing, the Assembly Education Committee approved it 7 to 2; it could go to the full Assembly before the legislative session ends in August.

With more than 1 million parent, teacher and student members, the state PTA also opposes zero-tolerance policies under which students can be removed from school for any violation of drug rules. The organization sees its effort to block random drug testing as another way to protect children.

PTA officials say the money used to conduct random drug tests would be better spent going after root causes of substance abuse with education and treatment.

Opponents also fear that arbitrary tests could discourage students who take birth control pills, antidepressants or other prescription medications from participating in activities that require students to accept random drug testing.

At least three California schools screen at random for drugs: San Clemente High School in Orange County runs a voluntary program; Bret Harte Union High School in Calaveras County tests athletes, cheerleaders and scorekeepers; and Dixon High School near Sacramento tests athletes and requires drug education for their parents each athletic season.

One Dixon parent, who spoke on condition of anonymity, complained that initially the punishments were “ridiculously harsh” for youths caught using drugs, but now coaches give preliminary warnings.

Her three children have taken rapid-eye screenings and urine tests for school teams over several years. But she found it curious that the athletic department would test for recreational drugs, but not for performance enhancers such as steroids.

Coincidentally, state Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) has proposed a bill that would allow schools to test athletes for steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. The PTA supports that idea because the tests would require reasonable suspicion.

Among athletes, the Dixon parent believes, drug use is rare. “It’s the other half of the students the school should be worrying about,” she said.

For decades, the nation’s “war on drugs” focused heavily on prosecuting offenses. But the Bush administration now portrays the problem as a contagious disease spreading through peer pressure.

In his State of the Union address in January, President Bush asked for $25 million to help schools start random testing programs. The president’s drug czar, John Walters, sent his staff on a tour of 25 cities -- including four in California -- to discuss drug abuse and promote the program.

Vasconcellos hopes his bill will block schools from reaching for federal testing money offered by the Bush administration. “I just detest making schools cop places,” he said. “Schools are for learning, not for politics.”

In June, state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer came out in support of the Vasconcellos legislation because, he said, suspicionless testing violates constitutional protections against unlawful search and seizure. Planned Parenthood and the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People also support the proposed testing ban.

In 2003, a University of Michigan study of 76,000 students in eighth, 10th and 12th grades suggested that school drug tests did not affect rates of illicit drug use. The fear of testing positive did not appear to discourage new users from trying drugs.

Barthwell said that study was flawed because the drug tests were not random. When Michigan considered only schools that tested randomly, too few existed to provide a meaningful sample, she said.

Over the last several years, 22 school districts nationwide have abandoned the idea of random testing, according to the Drug Policy Alliance.