Drug official supports random testing

Last year the number of drug violation arrests in Pennsylvania climbed to 775 — the highest… Last year the number of drug violation arrests in Pennsylvania climbed to 775 — the highest rate since 2001 — while the Drug Enforcement Administration seized more than a ton of marijuana in the state.

At the same time, the federal government approved $10 million in grants for student drug testing programs in schools, which will be awarded Sept. 29. The programs — which are not federally mandated — were declared legal by the U.S. Supreme Court for all middle and high school students who participate in competitive extracurricular activities.

In the face of protest and many questions, a high-ranking official from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy hit the road earlier this spring to bolster support for drug testing in grades six through 12.

Deputy Director Mary Ann Solberg spoke to a group of educators and administrators Thursday in a hotel outside of Pittsburgh.

“Denial is something that we experience in all our communities,” she said. “Random student drug testing ends that denial.”

Solberg also recited anecdotes from her own experience. She told of a girl who was coaxed into trying marijuana by the most attractive guy in school and ended up mainlining heroin a few years later.

“Anything we can do to prevent drug use gives the child the opportunity to never become addicted,” Solberg said.

Despite Solberg’s visit, it is unlikely that schools in Pittsburgh will soon adopt random drug testing as a preventative measure.

“The board would never agree to that because they feel it’s a violation of the students’ rights,” Janet Yuhasz, the coordinator of student wellness for Pittsburgh public schools, said in a telephone interview. “We don’t do any drug testing at all.”

Pittsburgh schools rely on a student assistance program that focuses on staff awareness training, curriculum-based programs and collaboration with county agencies, Yuhasz said.

“It’s a very fair program. It’s a reasonable program. It’s of no cost to the families,” she said. “We all work together on the behalf of the students. Drug testing alone is not the answer.”

On that point, Solberg agreed.

“It is one tool in a toolbox of strategies,” she said in her speech.

Dave Farley, the project director for Operation Weed and Seed in Pittsburgh — a joint effort between law enforcement and community members to fight violent crime and drug activity — said random drug testing wouldn’t serve as a cure-all, but could keep drug users away from schools.

“Drug use, like everything else in our society, does not have a single cause,” Farley said, “and it’s not going to have a single solution.”

Farley also said that, based on his experience, drug use has not necessarily grown in Pittsburgh during the last 10 years, but that it may be spreading to new demographics. He added that there is probably a trend in younger children using drugs.

Following Solberg’s speech, Brian Blake, a spokesman for the ONDCP, and Tom Angell, a representative of an organization that works against random drug testing in schools, clashed in the hotel’s lobby.

“You run around telling people that it drives kids out and it’s not the case,” Blake said in defense of drug testing.

Their debate quickly transformed the war on drugs into a war of words.

Blake accused Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Angell’s group, of misrepresenting the results of drug testing and went on to say that SSDP supports the legalization of marijuana.

Angell, the younger of the two, denied both of Blake’s charges and countered by saying that the federal government — while not demanding that schools test students for drug use — effectively mandated drug tests by giving $10 million in grants to schools.

“We’re promoting this as a policy we think that works,” Blake said.

Rob Steffes, a taxpayer from Aliquippa with no children, agreed with Angell.

“They say it’s not a Big Brother thing,” he said. “I want the kids to learn they’re in a democratic society.”

Steffes said he was not affiliated with SSDP, but studied the issue attentively.

“It doesn’t work,” Steffes added. “People like me are going to fight it tooth and nail.”