The Walsh Group (TWG) has just completed the third year of a research project evaluating the effectiveness of random drug testing (RDT) to reduce drug use by high school students. Three public high schools in New Jersey, with a total population of over six thousand students, are participating in the research (Hunterdon Central Regional High School, North Hunterdon High School, and Voorhees High School).  The study is funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

  The schools’ random testing policies are designed to be therapeutic rather than punitive.  The regional boards of education have created a policy where participation in school-sponsored athletics or competitive extracurricular activities is contingent on participation in the random testing program. Students can also volunteer to participate in the program, which runs throughout the year.     

  If a student fails a random drug test, the student’s parents are notified, meetings with the school student assistance counselor are arranged, and the student may not participate in extracurricular activities until he/she has successfully completed required drug education and counseling sessions and passed a follow-up drug test.  Students do not miss any classes, and may resume extracurricular activities when the prerequisites are met.  The goal is to deter use and identify 

students who are using drugs so they can get the necessary help.  

  All test results are confidential and do not appear on the student's permanent record.  

  The RDT programs have run smoothly at all three participating schools and are now an accepted part of the normal course of business.   There have been no problems or complaints and there has been no evidence that students have stopped participating in athletics or extracurricular activities in order to avoid being in the RDT pool.

  The preliminary results from this complicated study are quite promising. We have found positive correlations between being in the RDT pool and lower rates of drug use; however, we cannot impute causality at this time.  More data is needed.

The study’s preliminary results have also brought some other interesting things to light.  There is strong evidence that student drug use patterns change over the course of the school year, and that the greatest rates of drug-use increases are among the freshman and sophomore classes as they assimilate into the high school culture. 

  Both of these patterns have important implications for the design and implementation of RDT and other prevention programs.  The Department of Education has now extended the study for a fourth year so that TWG can gather more data on the impact of RDT programs on student drug use as well as further investigate seasonal variations in student drug use and high school socialization.