Student Drug Testing (SDT) is not recommended as a stand-alone drug prevention program. SDT should be one piece of a comprehensive drug abuse prevention program.

The following are links that will describe the pieces of a comprehensive program:

	Student Drug Testing Program
	Written Policy
	Student Assistance Programs
	Student Drug Education
	Faculty Drug Education
	Parental Involvement
	Community Involvement

A well-designed student drug testing program:

• Discourages students from illegal drug use

• Identifies students who are using drugs so that parents and educators can stop it early

• Helps parents intervene if their child is using drugs

• Gives the students another good reason to say "No" to drugs

• Supports other drug prevention efforts in the school community

• Reinforces a firm no-drug-use policy which supports an inherently safe school environment

• Gathers strong support from the entire school community

• Uses testing as a tool for prevention, not punishment

• Fits into the school's comprehensive drug abuse prevention program

Successful SDT programs are non-punitive in that while there are significant consequences resulting from drug use discovered by testing at school, non-punitive programs are designed to encourage treatment and discourage further problems. Youth who test positive for current drug use are:

• not expelled from school,

• they are not reported to the police, and

• drug test results are not included in formal school records.

Consequences for a positive test are built into school policies, such as not playing on an athletic team for the rest of the season, or loss of privileges to drive a car on the school campus. Such policies reinforce a students' reason to say "no" while not altering students' long-term standing or school record. Often, those who test positive regain their lost privileges once they have a negative drug test result.

There are two major types of student drug testing programs

Random Student Drug Testing (RSDT)

Random Student Drug Testing (RSDT) refers to the practice of randomly testing middle and high school students to detect recent use of illegal drugs.² All students in selected groups have an equal chance of being tested throughout the school.

Random Student Drug Testing programs may be either mandatory or voluntary.

Mandatory -- All students in a defined group or setting are eligible for student drug testing. Failure to comply with the program usually results in the temporary loss of activity participation or other privileges.
Example: All athletes in a mandatory program must enroll to be randomly tested or withdraw from participating in sports.

Voluntary -- Students and parents may choose whether to be a part of the student drug testing program by signing consent forms or choose not to join the program without penalty.
Example: Athletes who do not choose to be part of the testing program may still participate in sports without penalty.

The Administrative Toolkit (in PDF format) provides tools and information needed to implement a random student drug testing program.

"For-Cause" or Reasonable Suspicion drug testing

A student is tested based on a reasonable belief that a student is using or has used drugs in violation of the school's policy.

A common definition for reasonable suspicion is: "facts, circumstances, physical evidence, physical signs and symptoms or a pattern of performance and/or behavior that would cause a trained school staff member to reasonably suspect that a student has violated the substance abuse policy and/or is under the influence of, or is intoxicated by, a drug or prohibited substance."⁴

Managing a reasonable suspicion SDT program requires different procedures than a random SDT program. Administrators choose which students are to be tested based on physical characteristics such as appearance, behavior, and speech. Specific procedures and qualifications for testing should be written in plain, easily understood language in the school's drug testing policy.

Reasonable suspicion and random student drug testing programs are not mutually exclusive. Virtually all schools that do any drug testing have reasonable suspicion drug testing programs. A smaller but rapidly growing number of schools add random testing to reasonable suspicion drug testing. A decade of experience has shown that schools are extremely reluctant to conduct reasonable suspicion tests because of the difficulty of being sure about the basis for the test and the potential for disputes about the reasonableness of the request for the test. We encourage the use of reasonable suspicion testing and, in fact, encourage much more testing on this basis. However, reasonable suspicion testing alone is a weak drug abuse prevention program. Under the best of circumstances, it is seldom used. For this reason, we encourage more schools to consider random student drug testing which removes the accusation aspect of drug testing and reaches, in an entirely fair way, all students in the pool of tested students.

Visit Reasonable Suspicion Procedures for a detailed explanation of procedures for reasonable suspicion testing.

Successful programs must have a clearly written testing policy and procedure for all steps regardless of whether it is a random, "for-cause", voluntary or mandatory student drug testing program. Policies generally contain 4 major sections. In the first section, explain why your school needs the SDT program. Afterwards, an introduction or position statement further defines the role and extent of the program. Next, a discussion section addresses the technical details, options and procedures that the student drug testing program will feature. Lastly, your school's, student's and parent's rights and responsibilities should be addressed.

Policy-Writing Checklist:

Punitive vs. Non-punitive Policy:

While there are serious consequences associated with drug use discovered through testing at school, non-punitive SDT programs are designed to encourage treatment and discourage further drug-related problems. Youth who test positive for current drug use are:

• not expelled from school,
• they are not reported to the police, and
• their school records do not include drug test results.

Consequences for a positive test are built into school policies, such as not playing on an athletic team until they test negative for drugs or, temporary loss of privileges to drive a car on the school campus. The most important "consequence" for a positive is more frequent testing during the next year. Such policies reinforce a student's ability to say "no" to illegal drug use.

Please visit the links below for general descriptions of ways to incorporate the above items into an effective, legally defensible policy. Remember, each policy will be unique and tailored to its own school conditions. The Administrative Toolkit will give you the tools you need to set up a successful student drug testing program.

Step 3 of Administrative Toolkit for setting up a random SDT program (pdf)

Complete Administrative Toolkit (pdf)

What are they? Since the 1970's student assistance programs (SAPs) have provided a framework for delivery of prevention, intervention and support services to students and educators in grades K-12.¹³ These programs are made up of adult mental health and substance abuse professionals with special training. They address barriers to learning including social problem behaviors that impact both the individual student and the school. In addition, they assist secondary schools in dealing with alcohol and other drug problems among students. Student Assistance Programs do NOT provide treatment to students. Instead, they refer students and their families to resources that can help the student if treatment is needed.

The National Association of Student Assistance Professionals identifies 9 components of a comprehensive student assistance program including^{10 13}:

1. School board policy
2. Staff development
3. Program awareness
4. Internal referral process
5. Problem solving team and case management
6. Student assistance program evaluation
7. Educational student support groups
8. Cooperation and collaboration with community agencies and resources
9. Integration with other school-based programs

SAPs offer a continuum of services including¹³:

Prevention programs and strategies - Science-based programs and strategies are provided to help the students and community members understand and learn about risks and protective factors of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use.

Identification and referral -- Professionals are trained to identify warning signs.

Early intervention -- SAPs gather relevant information in a fact-finding process to determine whether a referral is needed. The student is interviewed to help the student assistance professional understand his or her perception of the problem.

Problem solving and recommendations -- Plans are developed to help the students and families reduce barriers to learning and improve the students' chances of success.

Support and follow-up -- SAPs can monitor the student's progress along with additional strategies over a period of time.

For more information about SAPs, visit:

National Association of Student Assistance Professionals
http://www.nasap.org

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administrative Services - SAP model program
http://modelprograms.samhsa.gov/print.cfm?pkProgramid=1

State Programs:

Pennsylvania Association of Student Assistance Professionals
http://www.neshaminy.k12.pa.us/Pupil_Services/psab.htm

Association of Student Assistance Professionals of Vermont
http://users.adelphia.net/~asapvt/whatare.htm

There are many good curricula for high-school student drug education. The following model programs on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration Services (SAMHSA) website have been evaluated and tested:

All Stars
http://modelprograms.samhsa.gov/template_cf.cfm?page=model&pkProgramID=15

ATHENA (Athletes Targeting Healthy Exercise & Nutrition Alternatives)
http://www.ohsu.edu/hpsm/athena.html

ATLAS (Athletes Training & Learning to Avoid Steroids)
http://modelprograms.samhsa.gov/pdfs/FactSheets/Atlas.pdf

Project Toward No Drug Abuse (TND)
http://modelprograms.samhsa.gov/template_cf.cfm?page=model&pkProgramID=30

Too Good for Drugs (TGFD)
http://modelprograms.samhsa.gov/template_cf.cfm?page=model&pkProgramID=40

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration provides information on more model programs for drug education http://modelprograms.samhsa.gov/template_cf.cfm?page=model_list

It is important to educate faculty and staff on signs and symptoms of drug abuse. It is also important for school staff members to be aware of the problems related to students' substance abuse. Most faculty can find information through their school's drug prevention program.

Parental Involvement

Parents need to know that they play an important role in the fight against drugs. Parents can help prevent kids from starting to use drugs, and they can also help kids who have started to quit or becoming addicted.

• Let your child know that your commitment to him or her being drug-free is based on your love and respect for your child.

• Talk with your child about his or her drug use. Let your child know your expectations that he or she stay drug-free.

This booklet includes examples of conversations for you and your teen about drugs "What You Need To Know About Drug Testing In Schools".

Community involvement and support is important to the success of student drug testing programs. Provide as many opportunities as possible for open discussions about student drug testing in your community. Educate community members on the current issues they may be unaware of regarding student drug use at your school. Visit our Community section for more information.