Those who watched President Bush's State of the Union Speech last month
were probably as outraged as I was at his call for a $23 million student drug testing program. At the time, many of us at NORML assumed that this was simply election year political grand standing. Much to our chagrin, President Bush has already found members of Congress willing to carry out this ill conceived plan.

Last week, Rep. John Peterson (R-PA) and uber-drug warrior Mark Souder(RIN) introduced HR 3720, the "Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act." If passed, this bill would provide $23 million to schools willing to implement random drug testing of all students. President Bush sees student drug testing as a key component of his re-election\ campaign, so if we are to defeat this bill, NORML supporters need to act quickly.

Random drug testing in schools has little impact on combatting youth drug use, and is an embarrassing and unjustifiable intrusion in students' lives. While President Bush credits school drug testing with a decline in teenage drug use in recent years, the latest Monitoring the Future study showed that usage rates declined equally in schools with and without drug testing programs. For an excellent summary of the futility of student drug testing, please read the article "No Silver Bullet" from the Drug Policy Alliance's Marsha Rosenbaum, Ph.D., which is posted below.

At a time when many of our nation's public schools face severe overcrowding, a lack of books and outdated facilities, it is unwise to spend $23 million of taxpayer money requiring students to pee in a cup. NORML, Drug Policy Alliance, ACLU and numerous other organizations will be working hard to oppose this legislation in the coming months - but we need your help!

Please take two minutes to send a pre-written letter to your member of the U.S. House of Representatives, urging him/her to oppose the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Act, by visiting:
http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/aler...977051&type=CO