Effectiveness of Mandatory Random Student Drug Testing

摘要

Despite a decline in adolescent substance use over the past 10 years, the prevalence of illicit substance use among youth remains high and a cause of concern. Recent national estimates indicate that 47 percent of students report having ever used illicit drugs and 72 percent report having ever drunk alcohol before leaving high school (Johnston et al. 2008). The negative consequences associated with substance use in adolescence include low academic outcomes, delinquency, and risky sexual behaviors (Baskin-Sommers and Sommers 2006; Ellickson et al. 2003; Roebuck et al. 2004). One approach to addressing student substance use is school-based mandatory-random student drug testing (MRSDT). Under MRSDT, students and their parents sign consent forms agreeing to the students random drug testing as a condition of participation in athletics and other school-sponsored competitive extracurricular activities. The programs are designed to supplement existing school-based substance use prevention strategies and have the twin goals of (1) identifying students with substance use problems for referral to appropriate counseling or treatment services and (2) deterring student substance use. Recent national estimates indicate that 14 percent of U.S. public school districts conducted random drug testing in at least one of their high schools during the 20042005 school year (Ringwalt et al. 2008); since 2003, the U.S. Department of Educations Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS) has operated a grant program to support MRSDT programs in schools.