Random Drug Tests Set for High Schools

More than 10,000 students in Oregon and Washington state will be tested for drugs starting next year as part of an experiment to see if the tests discourage illegal drug use, researchers in Portland, Ore., said. A team at Oregon Health Sciences University will randomly test the students at 24 Oregon and Washington high schools over the next five years. Researchers said they received a $3.6-million grant from the National Institutes of Health to do the study, in which students will be chosen for tests using a lottery system. “Drug testing may be an effective deterrent for substance abuse among high school athletes, but we can’t confirm that without studying it,” Dr. Linn Goldberg, who will help direct the study, said in a statement.