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Nov 2, 2006 6:31 pm US/Central
DISD Implementing Student Drug Testing Program
by Steve Pickett
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
The Dallas school district is implementing one of the largest student drug testing programs in the nation. Close to 20,000 students will be screened for illegal substances during this school year.
This week 1,000 DISD teenagers are busy taking an oral exam that has nothing to do reading, writing or arithmetic.
Drug abuse prevention specialist Pablo Estrada demonstrates, to students, the testing method now being used to detect marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs.
Leaders say there's a reason why the school district is doing it. "It's come to the day, 2006, you don't know if your child is using or not," Estrada says. "We say look for signs, and that can be a good indicator, but sometimes (there are) no signs until it's too late, and that's what we're trying to prevent."
One-third of DISD's student population, 71,000 middle and high schoolers, face possible testing.
Before students are tested, parents are sent a consent form. To date, 15,000-20,000 parents have signed the forms.
The school district received $600,000 from the Department of Education to finance the testing for three years.
"This is not a punitive thing. This is not to hammer the kids over the head. This is not a code of conduct issue," says Rosemarie Allen, DISD Associate Superintendent. "This is really to get help for the kids, and get parents involved and more knowledgeable about what their kids are in engaged in."
The growing teen drug trend right now is called 'cheese'. The drug is a powdery mix of heroin and Tylenol PM. Last year, school district police found it on a dozen DISD campuses. District officials say the plan now, is to find those students, and get them help.
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