Washington, D.C. — The Office of National Drug Control Policy and the U.S. Department of Education today announced the availability of applications for federal grants for student drug testing programs in schools. This $10 million initiative provides competitive grants to support schools in the design and implementation of programs to randomly screen selected students and to intervene with assessment, referral, and intervention for students whose test results indicate they have used illicit drugs.

"Student drug testing is an effective, safe and powerful tool against the threat of drugs in our schools and communities," said John Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy. "These important grants will go directly to help combat the serious public health threat of youth drug use and addiction. Student drug testing, like testing for tuberculosis in schools, saves our children's lives and their futures. Teen drug use is down 17 percent over the past three years, but we still have a long way to go, and student drug testing can be an effective tool for local communities."

"This grant will help prevent drug use among students by providing school districts with the funds needed to establish a student drug testing program, and thereby improve the climate for teaching and learning," said U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. "Students engaged in sports or extracurricular activities are often pressured to take drugs. The student drug testing program will provide students with another reason to say no to drug use."

In June 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court broadened the authority of public schools to test students for illegal drugs. Voting 5 to 4 in Pottawatomie County v. Earls, the court ruled to allow random drug tests for all middle and high school students participating in competitive extracurricular activities. The ruling greatly expanded the scope of school drug testing, which previously had been allowed only for student athletes.

Student drug testing grant applications are due on August 16, 2005 and grants will be awarded on September 29, 2005. Schools interested in applying for a federal grant, may go to http://www.ed.gov/programs/drugtesting/index.html. Funding of $2 million was made available during the first two years of this initiative and was used by 79 middle and high school administrators for drug testing programs.

To obtain more information about random student drug testing the Office of National Drug Control Policy has developed What You Need To Know About Drug Testing in Schools and What You Need To Know about Starting a Student Drug-Testing Program. Both documents can be found at www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov.

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