Drug Testing
At the Statehouse: Sentencing, Drug Testing, Good Samaritan, Hemp, and SWAT Bills
DOT to Publish Final Rule on Drug and Alcohol Testing
Help Us Stop Drug Testing!
Dear friends,
Please see the video below for an update about a terrible drug testing amendment in Congress ... and find out how you can help us stop it!
Will you help us continue our important work in Washington by making a one time donation today or becoming a monthly donor to SSDP?
Soon, SSDP will finalizing our strategy for the year at our annual retreat. I'm excited about all of the possibilities and to tell you about our plans.  Stay tuned...
Sincerely,
Aaron Houston
Executive Director
Students for Sensible Drug Policy
Video of False Positive Drug Testing Press Conference
Press Advisory: Press Conference To Expose Faulty Drug Test Kits Used Widely by Law Enforcement
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NEWS ADVISORY Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â CONTACT:Â Â Â Â Â Â Ryan Fletcher 202-641-0277
Feb. 24, 2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Adam Eidinger 202-744-2671
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MARCH 3 PRESS CONFERENCE TO EXPOSE FAULTY DRUG TEST KITS USED WIDELY BY LAW ENFORCEMENT
Report Entitled âFalse Positives Equal False Justiceâ to Be Released at National Press Club; Retired FBI Forensics Expert and Victims of False Arrests to Testify
WASHINGTON, D.C. â On Tuesday, March 3 at 1 p.m., the Marijuana Policy Project and Mintwood Media Collective will host a press conference at the National Press Club to release a new report that exposes faulty drug test kits used widely by law enforcement. The study, entitled "False Positives Equal False Justice," reveals that the NIK NarcoPouch 908/Duquenois-Levine Reagent field test kit, the most widely used field test for identifying marijuana, as well as the majority of other drug test kits used as the basis for arrest and prosecution by law enforcement have an unacceptably high rate of rendering false positives.
In addition to testimony by experts in the field, as well as those directly impacted by these faulty tests, experiments will be performed at the press conference that will demonstrate the unreliability of various drug tests and their capacity to render false positives. Natural soap, chocolate and newspaper, among other household items, all will test positive for marijuana and other drugs such as GHB in these drug tests, yet these kits continue to be used in both arrests and prosecutions nationwide. These faulty tests result in the unjust arrest, imprisonment and even prosecution of innocent citizens.
WHAT:  Press conference exposing faulty drug tests through the release of a new report entitled "False   Â
               Positives Equal False Justice"
WHEN: Â Tuesday March 3 at 1 p.m.
WHERE: Zenger Room at the National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor - Washington, D.C., 20045
WHO:Â Â Â Â Frederic Whitehurst is a retired FBI agent and forensics expert, whose findings are featured
                extensively in the new report.
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David Bronner is the president of Dr. Bronnerâs Magic Soaps. In 2007, the results of a NarcoPouch® 928 field drug test of his companyâs popular organic soap was used to jail Don Bolles - drummer for the legendary punk band, the Germs â for possession of the drug GHB (Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate). A crime lab confirmation using a more reliable test exonerated Bolles and Dr. Bronnerâs soaps of the drug possession charges.
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John Kelly is a researcher and author of "False Positives Equal False Justice."Â
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Dr. Omar Bagasra is a professor and the director of the South Carolina Center for Biotechnology at Claflin University. He contributed significantly to the report, including testing the specificity of the NIK NarcoPouch with 42 non-marijuana substances following the procedure prescribed by NIK.
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Rob Kampia is executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project.
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Ron Obadia and Nadine Artemis are co-owners of Living Libations Inc. They have been arrested twice because their raw chocolate tested positive for hashish with the Duquenois-Levine color chemical test. Upon their first arrest, they were placed in separate rooms and told they faced âlife in prison.â Subsequent lab testing proved there was no hashish in the chocolate. Their arrests have resulted in extensive legal bills and other challenges.Â
Press Release: Wed (10/29/08) in Albany: White House Pushes Controversial Student Drug Testing Agenda at Summit
Press Release: White House Pushes Harmful and Ineffective Student Drug Testing Agenda at DC Summit
For Immediate Release:Â May 6, 2008
For More Info: Contact: Jennifer Kern (415) 373-7694 or Jasmine Tyler (202) 294-8292
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White House Pushes Controversial Student Drug Testing Agenda at D.C. Summit on May 7
Largest Study, Leading Health Groups Call Random, Suspicionless Drug Testing Harmful and Ineffective
Concerned Citizens to Provide Educators with Missing Information; Experts Available for Interviews
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is conducting a series of regional summits designed to convince local educators to start drug testing students -- randomly and without cause. This policy is unsupported by the available science and opposed by leading experts in adolescent health. The Bush Administration is hosting a summit on Wednesday, May 7 at the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the 5th floor conference room of 750 17th Street, N.W. in Washington, D.C. from 1:00 p.m.â5:00 p.m.
The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) will provide attendees with copies of DPAâs booklet Making Sense of Student Drug Testing: Why Educators Are Saying No, which provides resources for evidence-based alternatives and summarizes research showing that such testing is ineffective.
Studies have found that suspicionless drug testing is ineffective in deterring student drug use. The first large-scale national study on student drug testing, which was published by researchers at the University of Michigan in 2003, found no difference in rates of student drug use between schools that have drug testing programs and those that do not. A two-year randomized experimental trial published last November in the Journal of Adolescent Health concluded random drug testing targeting student athletes did not reliably reduce past month drug use and, in fact, produced attitudinal changes among students that indicate new risk factors for future substance use.Â
"Drug testing is humiliating, costly and ineffective, but itâs an easy anti-drug sound bite for the White House," said Jennifer Kern, youth policy manager with the Drug Policy Alliance. "The people and educators across the country who make serious decisions about young peopleâs safety wonât find the information they need at these propaganda-filled summits. They need the actual research, not slogans and junk science."
The American Academy of Pediatrics, National Education Association, the Association of Addiction Professionals and the National Association of Social Workers object to testing. They believe random testing programs erect counter-productive obstacles to student participation in extracurricular activities, marginalize at-risk students and make open communication more difficult.
âDrug testing breaks down relationships of trust,â said Jasmine Tyler, deputy director of national affairs with the Drug Policy Alliance. âAll credible research on substance abuse prevention points to eliminating, rather than creating, sources of alienation and conflict between young people, their parents and schools.â
A December 2007 policy statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Substance Abuse and Council of School Health reaffirmed their opposition to student drug testing, holding: âPhysicians should not support drug testing in schools ⦠[because] it has not yet been established that drug testing does not cause harm.
Making Sense of Student Drug Testing: Why Educators are Saying No published by the Drug Policy Alliance and the American Civil Liberties Union can be found online at www.safety1st.org. An excerpt from the booklet is included below:
Comprehensive, rigorous and respected research shows there are many reasons why random student drug testing is not good policy:
- Drug testing is not effective in deterring drug use among young people;
- Drug testing is expensive, taking away scarce dollars from other, more effective programs that keep young people out of trouble with drugs;
- Drug testing can be legally risky, exposing schools to potentially costly litigation;
- Drug testing may drive students away from extracurricular activities, which are a proven means of helping students stay out of trouble with drugs;
- Drug testing can undermine trust between students and teachers, and between parents and children;
- Drug testing can result in false positives, leading to the punishment of innocent students;
- Drug testing does not effectively identify students who have serious problems with drugs; and
- Drug testing may lead to unintended consequences, such as students using drugs (like alcohol) that are more dangerous but less detectable by a drug test.
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Press Release: White House Pushes Controversial Student Drug Testing Agenda at Summit
Media Release: MardiGrass missed opportunity
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