Drug-testing worked for Marines

In the past several weeks, we have seen a number of letters written about the ineffectiveness of drug testing.

While I am not in the business of counseling alcohol and drug abusers, I have spent most of my adult life in leadership positions where substance abuse has been an issue.

In my experience, drug testing has worked effectively. As a SACO (substance abuse control officer) testing thousands of Marines and sailors for drug usage, I never once had a false positive.

I have spoken with other Whitefish veterans who served as SACOs in the military, and they also never experienced false positives. I believe our zero percent false positive rate was due to two factors:

(1) the excellent training we received in the scientific, legal and administration processes necessary for fair and accurate drug testing; and

(2) a commitment to excellence on the part of our unit's leadership.

Some in our community suggest that drug-testing will break down the trust relationship between students and teachers.

This was not my experience as a SACO. The majority of my Marines didn't think twice about drug-testing, and I don't believe they trusted me less for testing them; however, I tended to trust them more because I knew they weren't using illegal drugs.

There were a handful of Marines who held their leadership in contempt, but I am sure drug-testing wasn't the reason. My experience has demonstrated those who break the law tend to distrust those who enforce it.

Before drug testing, the military experienced a 47 percent drug-usage rate. Today, less than 1 percent of servicemen and women test positive. The military's drug policy was so successful, it has been adopted by many government and corporate organizations.

It has been argued that students will merely shift their drug-use to substances that are more difficult to detect. Admittedly, many of the Marines I led early in my career abused alcohol instead of illegal drugs. I believe this was due to the institutional belief that alcohol was an integral part of the military culture.

In the units I served where leaders adopted zero tolerance policies with meaningful consequences, alcohol-abuse dropped significantly. Some Marines believed they were entitled to excessive alcohol consumption and were upset with the zero tolerance policies. They thought DUIs, fighting, unauthorized absences and other misconduct due to drunkenness were part of Marine lore.

My observations, however, concluded that having less people getting hurt or arrested and more people winning awards and promotions was a fair trade. The Marines who continued to abuse alcohol were removed from the unit. This resulted in the unit, both individually and collectively, becoming more productive.

Drug-testing is distasteful; however, it is less distasteful than having a drug policy that is unenforceable. In summary, my experience with substance abuse policy has been:

(1) education without testing is a waste of time;

(2) drug-testing is highly reliable when those who administer the tests are well-trained and committed to excellence;

(3) drug-testing does not break down trust, it enhances it; and

(4) a workable alcohol policy must have meaningful consequences to be effective.

The challenge to eradicate substance abuse in the military 30 years ago was just as great as it is in our school district today. I believe we can be just as successful if we imitate the military's resolve.

Joseph D. Coco Jr. is a resident of Whitefish.