The new program is the result of a partnership between the St. Joseph County police, the prosecutor’s office, Juvenile Court, Community Mental Health substance abuse services, and the Human Services Commission.

The Sturgis Police Department and Juvenile Court have been working on an initiative that focuses on helping reinforce parental responsibility in order to reduce drug use among local youth in the past year. Efforts included the development of a user-friendly and easily-understandable brochure, companion information, and drug test kits.

Judge Thomas Shumaker of the Juvenile Court shared, though, that there have already been programs in the past that were aimed at helping parents talk to their children about drugs; but he said that this new effort is being backed by local support groups and substance abuse services. The goal of the new initiative is to give parents the opportunity to keep their children drug-free in the privacy of their homes. The test kits included in the program also has information for parents regarding how to talk to their children about drug testing.

The sample test kits will be available at the Juvenile Court, and through the police department, for $5. These will be able to test for marijuana, pills, and cocaine, among others.

Shumaker shared further: “The police are the contact point, but we will work with schools to make the test kits and information available… Parents need to be more observant of the signs of drug use and help their children make good choices on the road to being successful citizens.”

In Missouri, for instance, parents can request for a free drug test to administer to their child in the privacy of their home. James Proctor, Resource Officer for Cameron High School in Cameron, Missouri, shared: “It’s an opportunity for parents to get a free drug test to give their child at home.” He shared further that the free drug test could be requested from the website TestMyTeen.com, which is being run by the state of Missouri.

The system is something that was implemented recently in Cameron. The rest of Missouri will also follow suit soon.

Kristi McIntosh, a health teacher and parent as well, shared: “I think it’s a good idea, that way they can know what their kids are into and can get them help if they need it.”

In addition to being able to help parents, Officer Proctor also pointed out that administering home drug tests may also serve as a deterrent for teens, in terms of giving in to peer pressure regarding drug use. Teens who get tested will be able to say “no” to peers who are trying to get them to do drugs, bringing up the fact that they are getting tested at home.

While these numbers are still low compared to drunk driving arrests, the dangers of drugged driving are just as real. Without the proper tools, though, what the cops can do to catch drugged drivers is very limited.

“If people next year knew that they’d be tested for drugged driving just like they are tested for drunk driving, it might deter them from doing it to begin with and save lives,” Schumer said.

This is why he is pushing for legislation that would provide $140 million research and training funding to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, in order to develop tests that cops can use to detect drugged drivers as well as to train cops to use any new technology.

Current tests being used by cops can detect alcohol intoxication. There is presently no device or test used by cops that can detect drugged drivers.

“Our cops need state-of-the-art equipment and better training to identify and apprehend those who are putting innocent victims at risk,” he added.

The funding of the program comes from the FEMA grant given to the community which was hit by floods to aid in their economic development. Yet when a survey was done in Olive Hill which asks citizens as to how to spend the money, many voiced out their concerns on the pain pill epidemic which has affected the youth in the area.

Some comments received say “we can’t recover or grow here without attacking the pain pill epidemic — and let’s start while they’re young.”

In fact, in West Carter High School, just about everyone knows somebody who is into drug addiction. This is why the Champions Against Drugs student organization is doing their share in fighting the epidemic by presenting anti-drugs skits in schools.

The program will provide drug testing kitsto parents who ask for them, and conduct school drug testing on students with both the parents’ and students’ consent. Students and parents are given the option to join the program or not.

“If there’s a party and kids are tempted to do drugs, and the parents might test them when they get home, they’ll think twice,” one student says.

Testing positive at home will have the student tested in a lab again. If it’s still positive, treatment and counseling will be offered to help in their problems. Legal and criminal liabilities are set aside to make way for more effective counseling.

Based on information from Sen. Alan Hays (R-Umatilla), sponsor of Senate bill SB 1358, while state employees are just as at risk for drug abuse as the rest of the population, having them undergo testing will help those employees who need assistance overcome their personal struggle with drug abuse. Hays said: “It’s about protecting the state employees and the public.”

Sen. Jim Norman (R-Tampa), on the other hand, shared that everyone – including top administrators – should be open to undergoing random drug testing. He recalled his own experience, sharing: “When I became a county commissioner they had it in place in our county and when commissioners were elected our first action was to go down and be tested and I had no problem with that.”

In addition, Rep. Jimmie Smith (R-Inverness), sponsor of HB 1205, said that the bill is an effort towards changing society’s acceptance of drug use. He said: “The first drug-free workplace should be the one that taxpayers pay for.”

The ACLU of Florida, however, pointed out that government-mandated drug tests without suspicion or special safety considerations have been found to be in violation of the Fourth Amendment by the courts. Derek Newton, ACLU of Florida communications director, said: “Just three months ago, in an ACLU lawsuit, a federal judge ordered the state to stop enforcing last year’s law requiring Floridians applying for temporary assistance to submit to the humiliating government tests… And when the ACLU of Florida challenged Governor Scott’s executive order mandating random drug tests for state employees in court, he retreated, ordering most agencies to stop the unconstitutional program.”

Springfield police is offering vouchers for home drug testing kits, which have the ability to detect the presence of 10 illegal drugs, including marijuana, ecstasy and cocaine, in urine.

The organization TestMyTeen.com donated $5,000 worth of free testing kits, as part of its partnership with the Missouri Police Chiefs Association.

Cpl. Matt Brown, spokesman for the police department, shared: “Most parents truly believe that their kids would never do anything like that, but we in law enforcement see the other side… We interact everyday with teens who are taking drugs and their parents don’t know.”

Parents can use the drug testing kits to find out whether their teens are indeed using drugs, after observing that they seem to be exhibiting signs of drug abuse. In addition, the knowledge that parents will subject them to drug testing may discourage teens from giving in to peers who may be urging them to experiment with illegal substances.

The concept of using the threat of parental drug testing as a deterrent for teens against experimenting with drugs was supported by three teens who were interviewed by News-Leader. All the teens have been subjected to random drug testing prior to being allowed to participate in special academic and career programs.

The teens – Justin Whitley, Victoria Simpson, and Tabitha Crews – agreed, however, that parents should only turn to drug testing if they suspect that their teen is using drugs and all other steps to prevent the teen from doing so have failed.

From the 5900 employed staff in 14 school districts, only 2325 underwent drug testing and passed before they were completely hired.

The issue of drug testing for school staff became controversial when several Antigo and Merrill school district employees were suspended last week after admitting to the Langlade County Sheriff’s Department that they engaged in marijuana use and selling in the recent months based on the court documents that were made available to the media.

D.C. Everest Area School District human resource director Kim Hall says that passing a drug test has become a very important factor when they offer jobs to prospective employees. “A drug screen can tell a lot about a candidate. We want good staff.”

On the other hand, Antigo school district does not require pre-hire drug tests. Only employees who are suspected or appear to be under the influence will be subjected to drug testing. Failing the test means an employee can be immediately fired from the job.

When other school districts were asked why they do not have a drug testing policy for employees, authorities said they did not see the need for such policy as they have never experienced having employees linked to any drugs issues.

As of Tuesday, there were 134 respondents to the survey which can be accessed at www.powaytownhall.com yielding results that suggest the need for the implementation of random drug testing among athletes, more effective crackdown on “party buses” which transport teens, and transparency on drug-related issues in school campuses.

According to Steve Vaus who initiated the community forum, respondents were given the following choices in answering questions to the online survey: absolutely, possibly, undecided, and no way. Comments were also welcomed along with their answers.

It was no surprise that 90% of those who took the survey favored drug testing for school athletes, 67% saying “absolutely” and 23% said “possibly.”

There were also 86% who said that they wanted to be informed about drug or alcohol offenses on campus, 75% saying “absolutely” and 11% choosing “possibly.”

With regards to “party buses,” 82% said they wanted to have a total ban on such vehicles that transport teens to events which often carry drugs and liquor too.

Interesting comments gathered from the online survey include one participant stating parents should stop allowing their kids to use their credit cards to reserve party buses. Others also added that they have not heard of reports of student arrests or anything about substance abuse from campuses.

Comments like “when kids get caught, don’t sweep it under the rug,” and “withhold names, but publish everything about arrests and anything/everything that has to do with substance abuse,” and “how about parents stop letting their kids use their credit cards to reserve party buses. Parents, step up and get tough,” only prove that people are concerned about issues affecting the youth.

“If you’re drug tested for a private job, why shouldn’t you be drug tested for public assistance? If you have nothing to hide, then there shouldn’t be a problem,” Rep. DeCesare said.

The drug testing bill has been introduced during last year’s General Assembly but it has made very little progress.

Drug testing will be done only if a caseworker suspects substance abuse from a recipient. The suspected individual will then be subjected to drug testing and should he fail, he will be given a list of substance abuse treatment facilities in the area. Children of recipients who fail the drug test will still continue to receive public assistance.

“I think it could be practical in its implementation,” Rep. Richards stated. “I think most people think that it’s fair. If you’re on assistance, you should be drug tested.”

Another bill scheduled to be tackled is one authored by Richards that pertains to the health and wellness of state employees. The Kentucky Personnel Cabinet will be required to create programs which will improve the health and wellness of state employees if the said bill should pass legislation.

Incentives will be given to those who participate in such programs. The state will source the funds from their current annual budget as well as from surplus funds from previous years.

“There are incentives for people to reduce weight, stop smoking,” according to Rep. Richards. “With Kentucky being such an unhealthy state, I think this is really important. It’s important to hold down expenses on health care as much as we can.”

Marijuana contains the active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol more commonly known as delta-9-THC or just plain THC. These compounds enter the system as soon as pot is smoked, but it takes a longer period of time to arrive in the blood stream if weed is ingested instead. The average time for its effect to manifest in the body if ingested is about 20 minutes to an hour.

Because THC is rapidly metabolized in the body to become metabolites, the substance can only be detected in the bloodstream for up to a few hours. THC is able to produce more than 80 types of metabolites which are stored in the body and gradually excreted through the urine or feces of its user.

Urine drug tests can detect THC and its metabolites for up to 13 days. There are some forms of metabolites, though, that can be easily eliminated with half-life rates from 20 hours up to 10 to 13 days usually stored in the fat tissues of the body.

Factors that affect how long marijuana stays in the body are the frequency and the amount of the illicit drug used as well as the length of time that a user has been consuming weed. If a pot smoker takes the drug on a daily basis, he can test positive for up to 45 days since the last date of use; heavy smoking of marijuana could render a user to test positive for up to 90 days after the last use.

False positive test results for marijuana testing are surprisingly rare unlike other common drugs. There isn’t any known substance that could trigger a positive result for marijuana especially for urine testing.