Random Drug Testing Persuasive Essay

Does Random Drug Testing help prevent students from doing drugs? Drug addictions have been and continue to be a problem for students. These drug addictions cause problems for students academically as well as in their future lives. Although these Random Drug Tests are thought to help prevent drug use, schools should not use them because they are not effective in helping kids quit drugs, students can experience negative effects from the tests, and they are expensive and rarely catch kids who use drugs sporadically. Random Drug Testing is not an effective step in helping kids quit drugs. A study by Sznitman and Romer in 2014 found that random drug testing did not have any effect on deterring when students began doing drugs or on how much they

According to a report in the online Pediatric March 30th issue by the American Academy of Pediatrics, random drug testing is less likely to catch sporadic users than more heavy drug abusers. That means that students who are experimenting with drug use may not be identified until they become more hard core addicts. Therefore, many kids might not get needed attention for drug use until it is a much bigger problem. A single drug test cost about $24, but Levy’s research team in an report in Pediatrics, March 30th edition found that random testing costs about $3,000 just to get one positive result. And while Random Drug Testing targets students who are involved in sport or extracurricular activities, there are students who are not involved in these activities that need help dealing with drug use as well. With this evidence, the money that is being used for these tests can be used in a more effective prevention program. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that schools redirect the money used for Random Drug testing for more helpful programs that encourage students to stay away from drugs and deal with drug addiction. Random Drug Testing, no matter the cost, is supposed to discourage students from doing drugs. However, the results from schools that are using Random Drug Testing find that it is expensive and that it is not effective at discouraging and dealing with drug use, and that the money should be pointed towards something more