Drug testing doesn't work

I am glad that Jeff Bailey (Whitefish Pilot, April 10) finds the advertising literature put out by the drug-testing industry to be "fair and balanced." I am sure their sales pitch stands as a model to used car dealers everywhere.

But tell me something. Did they happen to mention that there is absolutely no verifiable evidence that drug testing actually reduces drug use among children?

Did they mention that the American Academy of Pediatrics opposes school drug testing?

The reason they oppose it is because there is no evidence that it provides any real benefits, and there is a good chance it will do nothing but damage the relationships with parents and school authorities. See, for example http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/119/3/627.

If Jeff Bailey has any evidence that school drug testing actually works — that is, something other than a brochure written by the person selling it — then everyone, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, would like to see it.

Clifford Schaffer, director,

Schaffer Library

of Drug Policy

Agua Dulce, Calif.