Opponents of random student drug testing provided key information to educators in the Washington, DC suburb of Falls Church, Virginia, last week, where the Office of National Drug Control Policy held its third student drug testing summit of 2006. While school districts throughout northern Virginia have largely rejected random student drug testing, educators were subjected to the full force of the federal push for this costly, ineffective policy. 

The ONDCP was expecting opposition, but officials were nonetheless obviously irritated as Drug Policy Alliance and allies Students for Sensible Drug Policy and NORML distributed materials to educators and told the media that random testing is a heavy-handed, ineffective way to discourage drug use that undermines trust and invades students' privacy.
 
With opposition in the audience, summit presenters were forced to attempt to diffuse criticism of the costly and humiliating policy. Drug Czar John Walters, who gave opening remarks, tried to dismiss the results of the only national federally funded study conducted on the subject, which found no difference in rates of drug use in schools with and without drug testing programs.

Walters also claimed that testing programs are not being pushed or mandated from Washington, even as he noted that this was the 19th or 20th student drug testing summit the ONDCP has hosted around the country.

Principal Chris Steffner of New Jersey, a frequent presenter at these summits, did go so far as to admit that suspending students from extracurricular activities might eliminate the confidentiality promised in the programs – though she did not offer a solution.

Many educators expressed dissatisfaction with the one-sided information presented by the ONDCP, and were grateful for the opportunity to hear the other side of the story. 

The larger community also got the chance to hear opposition arguments thanks to significant media coverage. In a Washington Examiner article before the summit, an ONDCP official admitted that student drug testing is being advanced based on anecdotal evidence, and DPA staff raised concerns regarding potential harms of the policy. Reuters provided excellent coverage of the summit itself, and the summit made waves on local television as well.

The end result was that educators remained unconvinced of the merits of random student drug testing. According to local newspaper the Sun-Gazette, Northern Virginia school districts do not plan to implement the policy. The paper quoted a Fairfax County Public Schools official as saying, "I think right now it would not be well-received in the county. All the data say drug use is coming down. What we're doing is working."

For Alliance members interested in attending the final 2006 summit in Milwaukee (April 25) check out our toolkit for resources to help with planning and engaging. You can also contact Jennifer Kern for more information.