"Radical" Russ says:

Drug test your kids? Yes, another pseudo-science quick-fix for bad parenting, that’s what we need. If you’re at the point of mis- or non-communication with your teen that you need a chemical assay of the metabolites of their urine to know whether they are using drugs, you’ve got bigger issues to deal with. If you’re at the point of suspecting, but not knowing, what are you using the test for, to shame your child at the kitchen table courtroom? “Your honor, I can PROVE the defendant lied about smoking a joint at that Killers concert!”

Please, stop it. Drug testing your kids is a bad idea. Don’t take my word for it, believe the pediatricians:

“From November 2000 to June 2003, Sharon Levy, M.D., and colleagues at the Children’s Hospital Corp. in Boston analyzed the features of home drug-testing kits for adolescents available through the Internet. They also examined recommendations that drug-testing companies offered parents to guide them in using these products.

As a result of this project:

The Committee on Substance Abuse of the American Association of Pediatrics amended its adolescent drug-testing policy to include a statement discouraging home drug testing by parents.

http://www.rwjf.org/reports/grr/040557.htm

I surfed to this site based on a trackback to my post above, “Teen’s Marijuana Use Steady”. The excerpt doesn’t show the relevant portion, which is that drug testing your child at home or at school just creates incentive for the use of harder drugs, like alcohol, or as in the case of this California study, prescription drugs:

The newly released biennial Attorney General’s Survey of Student Drug Use in California shows that marijuana use among 7th, 9th and 11th graders remained stable during 2007-8, but reports an “alarming rate” of prescription drug abuse.

Everybody knows that pot, out of any substance you can take for intoxication, is the one that remains detectable for the longest period of time. Everybody knows that if you are caught with even the residue of marijuana, you’re going to jail, losing your scholarships, maybe your job, and altering your life forever.

But if you pop a few of the pills you find in mom and dad’s medicine cabinet, you won’t be tested for it, you’ll get a lot higher, it’s harder to find (no smell) and conceal, and even if you are caught, you still get student aid and keep your job. What teenager seeking a thrill wouldn’t choose the pills over pot? Once again, prohibition maximizes the harm.

(Mason, if you happen to read this and would like to discuss your position on home drug testing teens, I would respectfully welcome you as an interview guest on my podcast. I deal with the issues of parents and teens and marijuana and drug testing quite often. I do not want teens using marijuana, but I believe I have better ideas to achieve that goal.)

Russ Belville
Host – NORML Daily Audio Stash
http://stash.norml.org

Herbert Spencer says:

I must agree with Russ Bellville above. While it’s laudable and important to keep kids from self-harm, this is the wrong way to go about it. Moreover, it’s not just ineffective, it’s counterproductive.

If you want your children to virtuous, happy, and successful, do these things:

- set high standards (e.g., never accept anything but their best try)
- give them lots of loving attention
- make sure you set a good example (e.g., never get “wasted” on any substance)
- keep them away from bad individuals and/or the wrong crowd

Hitting your children and negative reinforcement (e.g., harsh scolding, criticism) may “feel like” parenting, but they’re bad techniques. They don’t work. They encourage the seeds of rebellion. They dull your kids’ moral senses. Avoid!

If you’re a good person who puts in the time and effort to be there for your kids, especially at an early age, the chances are that they’ll be okay.

If you think yelling, hitting, officious rule-making, and heavy-handed punishments are a substitute for real parenting, your kid is likely to gravitate towards bad outcomes.

Cruelty isn’t great parenting.

Open lines of communication are good.
Creating a loving environment–but also one with high standards–is good.
Keeping away bad influences is good.
Nurturing a sense of independence–by allowing experimentation, with failure and its consequences–is good.

By the time you resort to drug-testing, you’ve probably failed as a parent.