The Drug Policy Alliance and ACLU Set the Record Straight with New Publication - Drug Testing Does Not Deter Teenage Drug Use

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The ACLU and Drug Policy Alliance (The Alliance) decry the White House's crusade to drug test children in schools and President Bush's proposal to allocate $23 million in funding for schools to implement student drug testing policies - his only mention of education spending in his State of the Union address. In response to Bush's call for student drug testing last night, the ACLU and The Alliance will publish and distribute an informational booklet on this issue to over 17,000 school officials nation-wide next week.

The booklet, ""Making Sense of Student Drug Testing: Why Educators are Saying No"" is the first and only national publication to challenge the White House's latest aggressive efforts to promote random drug testing in the 95% of schools that currently refuse to implement such a policy.

""While the President joins his Drug Czar in aggressively pushing drug testing programs on local school districts, we are offering decision makers - principals, school boards and PTAs - the tools and information they need to make a well reasoned decision that promote students' health."" says Judy Appel, an attorney at The Alliance's Legal Affairs department. ""Educators should know the whole story here, not just what the president wants them to know for his next election.""

The $23 million for drug testing mentioned in the State of the Union address is an increase from the federal drug czar John Walters' projection in 2003 of $8 million. Indeed, this allocation for student drug testing was Bush's only mention of spending for education in the State of the Union address.

""That Bush would promote this in his State of the Union address just affirms what we already know about the student drug testing issue: its about politics, not the well-being of our school children,"" said Graham Boyd, director of the ACLU Drug Policy Litigation Project. ""He didn't mention one penny for hiring new teachers or reducing class sizes, but millions to fund a program that the government's own research shows to be ineffective.""

The federal drug czar John Walters traveled to 25 cities last year promoting the student drug testing as a ""silver bullet"" in addressing teenage drug use and announcing federal grant money to implement these policies. Bush's announcement in the State of the Union address to ratchet up $23 million in funding for drug testing comes at a time when schools remain under intense financial strain for basic services and supplies.

""Drug testing is not the magic solution to our kids' safety in schools. It does not reduce drug use among students,"" Appel added. ""If the President wants to do address teenage drug use, he should allocate that $23 million to the after-school programs that have been cut, to drug prevention programs, and to full-time substance abuse counselors in schools.""

""We hope that by providing educators with the whole story, they will be able to make informed decisions about drug testing, instead of decisions based on government propaganda,"" said Boyd, director of the ACLU Drug Policy Litigation Project. ""We have consulted with hundreds of educators, administrators, students, and parents about this issue. The verdict's in: random drug testing is a bad idea.""