EDITORIAL - Random drug tests

For elementary school, the Department of Education blocked the proposal to subject students to mandatory drug tests. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency had recommended the measure to curb drug abuse among the youth. Parents, several school administrators and DepEd officials, however, opposed the measure, fearing it could stigmatize students and in some cases open them and their families to Tokhang operations.

Starting next year, however, random drug testing will be conducted among students in colleges and universities. The Commission on Higher Education, which ordered the tests in line with Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, promised to keep the results confidential. Testing positive for drug use, officials also assured the public, would not be a basis for expulsion from school, although a drug abuser may be required to undergo interventions. Higher education institutions may also include mandatory drug testing as a requirement for student admission and retention.

The measure, according to its proponents, is meant to encourage young people who are abusing drugs to mend their ways. This is one of the measures to curb the demand side of the problem, even as law enforcers continue the relentless campaign against suppliers of prohibited drugs.

Those tasked to supervise the drug tests, however, must do their utmost to prevent abuses. Testing positive for drug abuse may open a student to extortion. The anti-drug campaign, though well meaning, has seen numerous egregious abuses. Teenage drug suspects have been tortured and brutally murdered. A policeman is facing investigation on charges that he raped the 15-year-old daughter of a couple he had arrested on drug charges, promising the girl that he would free the parents in exchange for sex. 

Those in charge of the drug testing must also ensure its randomness. Singling out students for testing can smack of harassment. The government has said results of the tests would be kept confidential. The agency and persons assigned as custodians of the results must be fully trustworthy. 

There are people who won’t mind if their record of drug abuse becomes public; some even openly abuse drugs and brag about it to friends. Under normal circumstances, however, a record of drug abuse can affect a person’s chances of employment, access to higher learning and transactions with the government. Drug testing is supposed to save youths from addiction. It must not result in a stigma that will jeopardize their opportunities for a bright future.