Drug testing is humiliating, costly and ineffective. Lori Brown of Texas knows this better than most—her son was wronged by his school’s random drug testing program. Seventeen-year-old Mike, an upstanding senior at Shallowater High School near Lubbock Texas, had been on a number of medications for allergies as well as some antibiotics—one of which his doctor later confirmed could cause a false positive for cocaine—when his school randomly tested him. The school failed to properly follow their own policies by neglecting to ask Mike to list the medications he was on. To make matters worse, South Plains Compliance, the drug testing company hired by the school to administer the tests, maintained that their procedures were 100% accurate despite the extenuating circumstances.

Like any concerned mother would, Lori had Mike tested several times by their own physician for her own peace of mind. Each test confirmed what she already knew; Mike was not using cocaine. And like any good mother would, Lori stood in her son’s defense, trying to explain to the school what she’d learned from Mike’s doctor. But they refused to listen. For the next six months Mike was mysteriously “randomly” picked for testing several times and Mike, whose focus should have been on graduating, began to feel harassed and stigmatized.

“In my opinion, schools are using the [drug] testing program as a tool to police students, when they should be concentrating on education,” Lori says.

The straw that broke the camel’s back came when a South Plains Compliance representative yelled at Mike for not producing enough urine for his sixth test. Lori and Mike had reached their emotional limit and decided to remove Mike from the drug testing program. The consequences: Mike could no longer participate in extracurricular activities.
  
Drug testing has recently always been an easy anti-drug sound bite for the White House. But stories like Lori’s cannot be ignored. Their experience is a prime example of how student testing breaks the trust between young people and adults and drives students away from the extracurricular activities that keep kids out of trouble. Their story also illustrates the way in which drug testing undermines parental authority. And to top it off, studies have shown that student drug testing doesn't even work to deter drug use. The bottom line is that the price of using “scare tactics” to discourage drug use in students is costly—emotionally and fiscally—and counterproductive.

Despite this and other mounting evidence against drug testing, drug czar John Walters of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) thinks otherwise. He’s traveling around the country on a taxpayer-funded drug war tour to promote student drug testing as the “silver bullet” to adolescent drug use.

The Alliance is encouraging people in Pennsylvania, Missouri, Oregon and Texas—where the summits are being hosted—to attend the summits to voice their opposition to drug testing in schools. The meetings present a perfect opportunity for the media, educators, parents, and John Walters himself to hear firsthand that the public does not endorse this flawed method of deterring students from drug use.

To coordinate and organize these efforts, the Alliance has set up an online meet-up tool, where individuals can link up with others in their city to develop a game plan to fight drug testing. The Alliance’s website also contains information on the many creative ways to educate the public about the harms of student drug testing. Check out the online toolkit to download images to use as posters, for tips on asking tough questions, and for ideas on using props such as home drug testing kits to illustrate that drug testing should remain in the hands of the parent.

It has been a long and stressful battle for Mike and his mother, but Lori is determined to speak out against the student drug testing program. Now is the time to stand in solidarity with her and the other parents and students who have been collateral damage in the “war on drugs.” Now is the time to speak out with Lori, who says she is sharing her story with the hope that parents across the country will not support student drug testing and protect their child and other children from this outrageous violation.

To learn more about drug testing, visit www.drugtestingfails.org.

Teri Weefur is Deputy Web Coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance