School Drug Tests: Are They Worth the Price
One of the most widely used tools in schools could be a big waste on resources: Drug Tests. Many schools across the nation have been drug testing certain groups of kids. Now some groups are questioning this tool. While drug testing in schools can be useful in some situations schools should not use them because they waste resources, they can be inaccurate, and they miss a large group of kids.
Schools should not use drug testing because they can waste resources that could be of better use elsewhere. With the cost of drug tests being around 24 dollars a test but it catches so few kids on drugs that consequently, it usually takes around 3000 dollars to get a positive result. Studies conducted by adolescent Communication Institute researcher Daniel Romer states that kids in schools that drug test were no less likely to experiment with marijuana. There are also many reported ways to beat a drug test though some are detectable by the ones doing the testing. While some would argue that the costs of drug testing are worth it as a deterrent to drug use the money could be used better elsewhere. It seems that the costs of the drug tests outweigh the potential benefits
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According to Doctor Sharon Levy a researcher from the Boston Children's hospital is that drug tests are very unlikely to catch sporadic use of drugs by teenagers. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse is that it is near impossible for the tests to detect alcohol abuse due to it not staying in the bloodstream very long. Most drug tests are also at risk of false positives that could be set off by certain foods and ADHD medications. This could be countered with the claim that while some tests can be inaccurate others might not be but consequently, with the reported inaccuracy of the most widely used drug tests why are they still used in