Heads back call for school drug tests

"People say it's unethical, but if testing proves to be effective, we should ask ourselves whether it then becomes acceptable. If we are to have success in tackling drug abuse in Scotland, we need to be bold enough to explore initiatives that are unpopular." - NEIL McKEGANEY

Story in full SCHOOLCHILDREN should be subject to random drug tests under government-approved pilot schemes, Scotland's leading expert on substance misuse said yesterday.

Professor Neil McKeganey said the time had come to consider widespread drug-testing in Scottish schools in an attempt to challenge the "culture of acceptance" of drug abuse among young people.

His call, made before an audience of senior police officers, social workers and government officials, last night received support from headteachers who are increasingly coming to the view that such a move may be necessary.

Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, controversially announced plans to introduce random drug testing in schools two years ago, and a government-backed pilot scheme involving secondaries across Kent has begun.

The Kent pilot project tests pupils using mouth swabs.

Several independent schools, including the Edinburgh Academy, have used testing as a condition for readmission for pupils expelled for taking drugs.

But there remains strong opposition to the policy among many teachers, school nurses and police officers, who are concerned that it would stigmatise and isolate young people, potentially pushing them on to harder drugs.

The Scotsman has learned that the government's drug advisory panel will tomorrow recommend that drug-testing in schools be abandoned because of ethical concerns and a lack of evidence that they actually reduce drug misuse.

It is understood the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) has a number of concerns about drug-testing in schools, including whether pupils should be forced to give samples, whether parents should be consulted on the results, how often pupils should be tested and the possibility of "false positive" results triggered by a child's medication.

Speaking at the Scottish Executive-organised conference in Edinburgh, Young People and Substance Misuse in Scotland, Prof McKeganey, the director of the Centre for Drug Misuse Research at Glasgow University, said drug use among Scotland's youth was in danger of getting out of control and said radical policies had to be considered.

He said: "I think we should develop pilot programmes to find out if it's effective or not.

"There is no good reason to ignore it - we should see if it works. The same goes for bringing reformed drug addicts into school to talk to pupils.

The Scottish Executive yesterday said it had consulted headteachers across the country and found that there was "no appetite" for drug-testing in schools, but said it would be up to councils whether to introduce the initiative.

But the Headteachers Association of Scotland said last night there had been a "move" in attitudes among teachers who were increasingly concerned about the problem of drugs.

The association's general secretary, Bill McGregor, said: "However unpalatable, we are getting into a situation where we do have to look at the possibility of drug-testing in schools.

"We had great concerns on drug-testing as to who was actually going to do it and whether it was legal, but we accept the drugs culture is strong among young people, not necessarily in schools but outside the gates.

"If there was a threat of drugs we would have no problem with police applying tests. Our position is moving to acknowledge that this is a problem that isn't getting any better. In Scotland we have been very successful in keeping drugs outside schools, but that's a position we have to be prepared to defend, given the wider culture that exists."