DOH starts random drug tests in Metro schools

After so much ado, the Department of Health began yesterday the drug testing in 15 randomly-selected private and public high schools in Metro Manila.

According to DOH Undersecretary Jade del Mundo, 10 students from each school have been randomly subjected to urinalysis to determine if they have history of substance abuse. “There was no resistance from the students. The parents are supportive, some even volunteered their children to be tested,” he said in an interview.

The random drug testing is being conducted by the DOH, with the help of the Department of Education and the Dangerous Drugs Board, to gauge the drug addiction problem among the youth.

The program had initially raked in controversy because of allegations of some sectors that it violates one’s constitutional rights against self-incrimination and rights to privacy.

Del Mundo said that DepEd was the one that randomly selected the schools. Three of them are in Quezon City; four in Caloocan City; one in Las Piñas; one in Valenzuela; two in Taguig; one in Parañaque; one in Makati; one in Pasig and one in Malabon. Under the plan, the DOH will hold the drug tests in 8,500 private and public high schools nationwide, covering some 85,000 students. The project will then be duplicated in colleges and universities by June.

He said that the first random drug screening was in high school and college in 2005 and 2007. Marijuana turned out to be the students’ favorite substance of abuse.

Del Mundo said that through the second phase of the program, the DOH hopes to determine if the intervention programs that they implemented since then were effective.

As a policy, the urine specimens that tested positive for substances are subjected to “confirmatory” tests. The results will not be used as ground for criminal prosecution or administrative action.

He said that through confirmatory procedures, the DOH and DepEd would know if a student is just a drug user or an addict.

“If they are users, they undergo counseling. But if they are already addicted to drugs, they can be placed in rehabilitation centers in coordination with their parents,” del Mundo said.

Parents okay drug tests

While some sectors oppose the government’s decision to subject high school and college students to random drug testing because it may violate their rights, parents of Pasig schools are actually in favor of making it mandatory.

Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Chairman Vicente Sotto III said yesterday’s kick-off of the program was well-received that some even want it to be further strengthened.

“Parents in Pasig schools want it mandatory for all (students) and not just random,” he told The Star after joining Dep­Ed officials in the first round of random drug tests conducted in Metro Manila schools.

Sotto, who fought hard for the project despite criticisms from student groups and the Commission on Human Rights, said it is now up for the DepEd to implement the program noting that “the ball is now in their court.”

“We just want to remind the citizenry, that the ugly wicked head of illegal drugs is rearing its tentacles on the Filipino youth. This initiative to have random drug testing is a form of self-defense,” he said.

Cops, too

In related development, the Northern Police District-District Anti-Illegal Drugs operatives (NPD-DAID) underwent yesterday a mandatory drug test as part of the command’s efforts to cleanse its personnel of drug users. “I would like to make sure that our anti-narcotics agents are drug free so that their minds and judgment would not be clouded by the illegal substance during the conduct of their operations,” NPD director Chief Superintendent Eric Javier told The STAR.

Javier warned the NPD-DAID unit that those who will be found positive for illegal drug use would be recommended for dismissal from the police service.

“One of the qualifications when applying to become a member of the Philippine National Police is you must be free of illegal drugs, so if a policeman is not drug free then he is disqualified and must be dismissed from the service,” Javier said.

The PDEA laboratory services with six chemists and a ranking National Capital Region officer conducted the drug testing at around 10 a.m. to 43 NPD-DAID personnel using their urine samples.    – With Pete Laude