Rebuttal of Pro Drug Use implementation.
There is no doubt that teenage drug use is a widespread problem affecting the nation. Countless numbers of schools have implemented various programs to combat this through education and in more extreme cases, requiring urine-analysis drug tests for extracurricular activities in compliance with the US Supreme Court 5-4 majority ruling in Pottawatomie, et al. v. Earls, et al. .
Many experts of public health and pediatric health argued that blanket drug testing of teenagers was bad for their health. In addition they maintained that extracurricular students are far less likely to use drugs than their less involved peers, many students find testing policies intensely intrusive on privacy and students will be deterred from extracurricular involvement which would result in far-reaching, negative consequences. The US Dept. of Education and Dept. of Justice report that most youth drug use takes place between the hours of 3 - 6 pm. Students who spend one to four hours a week with extracurricular activities are 40% less likely to use drugs than their non participating peers. These after school programs involve adults who are able to supervise the students during the time of day when they are most susceptible to using drugs. Random drug testing will discourage children who are already abusing, the group that would benefit the most, from joining after school activities. Furthermore, testing will also discourage drug-free students by forcing students to forego participation rather than enduring a humiliating urine analysis test. .
Although drug testing may seem to be able to reduce youth drug use, many students have reported that there were a countless number of inexpensive ways to pass a drug test. "Karma" is a urine-cleansing powder that is easily available in many stores. Students can also add salt or a strand of hair coated with hairspray into the sample. Teens also know that Ecstasy can disappear from one's system within hours while marijuana can take up to 30 days.
