Students volunteer for drug testing
OJAI, California (AP) -- Students at two Southern California high schools volunteered to be placed on a list to be drug-tested, giving them an excuse to say no if offered drugs.
"We're not interested in catching kids," explained James Berube, the school district's assistant superintendent of Business Services. "We're interested in helping kids in our community."
The district will assemble a list of volunteers and randomly pick an as-yet-undecided number of students to test each month.
The program gives students "a magic card they can pull out of their sleeve," according to the Nordhoff Parent Association. They can say no to those who try to persuade them to take drugs, telling them that they might be tested and their parents will be informed if they test positive.
Testing will be done by staff from Ojai Valley Community Hospital. Students will be tested for eight substances, including alcohol, marijuana and cocaine.
Ojai is 70 miles northwest of Los Angeles in Ventura County.
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