We are preventing the Drug Czar from having the last word on random student drug testing! I write to update you on our success alerting educators and the public to the vital information missing from the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s one-sided presentations.

This week the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), in the March 2007 issue of their professional journal, Pediatrics, reaffirmed and expanded their opposition to random student drug testing. We issued a press release to highlight the fact that ONDCP has consistently ignored and dismissed the criticisms and concerns of AAP and other leading experts in adolescent health who question the efficacy and cost of such testing.   Meanwhile, ONDCP continues to host regional summits aimed at expanding random student drug testing to schools throughout the nation.

On February 27, 2007, I traveled to New Jersey to attend ONDCP’s second drug testing summit of the year.  I was joined by a dedicated group of parents, college students, attorneys and concerned citizens who were determined to inject science, reason and justice into the public discussion. We distributed our literature, engaged educators, and provided the media with a fuller picture of the drug testing debate.  We were able to disseminate our messages despite the ONDCP’s attempts to silence us by relegating our designated table, marked "Non-ONDCP Approved Materials," to the far back corner of the hallway outside the conference room, and denying us entry to the room reserved for the media.

As Jasmine Tyler, DPA’s Deputy Director of National Affairs, notes, "Educators welcomed our materials, and some expressed their deep appreciation for our information regarding the potential harms of suspicionless testing." 

Members of our group publicly posed several questions that threw ONDCP-sanctioned presenters on their heels and gave members of the audience pause. Attorney David Evans, a leading proponent of student drug testing, used much of his speech to attack the Drug Policy Alliance and the ACLU for our work opposing student drug testing.   When Mr. Evans was not attacking us, he was making various assertions on behalf of drug testing, often prefacing his claims with the revealing comment:  “While I don’t have the data on hand to back this up..."

Of particular note – and in striking departure from previous summits – the New Jersey presenters did not discuss the purported research regarding the efficacy (or lack thereof) of student drug testing programs.   Indeed, evidence-based principles and best practices were conspicuously absent from the proceedings.  Perhaps ONDCP dropped the issue of scientific data because distinguished groups like the AAP continue to emphasize the lack of peer-reviewed studies that demonstrate the efficacy of random student drug testing policies.

Our work generated important national media attention.   I was interviewed by CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight and explained that student drug testing is "pushing teens way from the very things that have been proven most effective to keep them engaged in those after-school hours while their parents aren't home..."   After ONDCP’s first 2007 summit in Charleston, South Carolina, Newsweek interviewed me for a feature, "Should Schools Conduct Random Drug Tests?", where I went head to head with Bertha Madras, the deputy director of Demand Reduction in the ONDCP, who coordinates and promotes President Bush's random student drug testing initiative.

ONDCP will hold two more student drug testing summits in 2007.  The next one will take place in Honolulu on March 27.  The final summit will be in Las Vegas on April 24.   Stay tuned for more news following these meetings.

Please consider making a donation so that we can continue our efforts to confront the Drug Czar head-on, present a principled opposition to ONDCP’s drug testing push, and stimulate informed discussion and debate nationwide on this important issue.   Thank you for making this work possible.