Orange beach town hall meeting

To discuss random drug testing in our school.

Bear in mind this is an elementary school. I have never
Been a proponent of any random drug testings in schools.

Curious as to whether forum members support or oppose and why?

The testing would be for marijuana and prescription drugs...

A waste of money. Elementary School? May be okay for High School sports if they also tested for steroids.

Who the hell is paying for this? As if I didn't know...

http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/local_news/baldwin_county/orange-beach-mayor-calling-for-school-drug-testing


Here is more when the signs were up at the rec center i thought mayor tony was talking about our ob school which is only elementary.

Looks like he is referring to gs which is where middle and high schools are for both gs and ob....

Still....apparently he wants to use the one penny sales tax?

Not sure what pushed his button?

I think it is insane. We treat our children like prisoners, striping away privacy and trust. They sneak a Xanax or a hit of weed and people go crazy. Kids are going to experiment. It is human nature. We need to be on the children's side with honest answers and understanding.

WOW... in elementary schools?? Where do you live man, Watts? Compton?? I think it's a waste of taxpayer dollars. Things are just getting way too out of hand... the schools are not responsible for raising up folks' children, parents are. I am with 3w on this one... out of scope for our public schools. In scope for parents...

In my opinion parents need to step up to the plate and drug test their own damn kids as needed and/or desired... no doubt the schools can make educated suggestions.

I know from drug testing @work that it can cost a few hundred bucks a pop (and that's likely w/corporate discounts and a contract) for a proper lab drug test depending on where you go, how fast you want results, what you're testing for, etc. So MAYBE an alternate solution to their proposal could be for some local grassroots organizer to set aside some amount of grant money for parents not able to afford drug testing on their own on a confidential scholarship-type basis, for lack of better terminology.

I'm fairly certain you can also buy home drug tests now... unsure about the reliability of a home test with relation to reliability of a lab drug test. No doubt a significant reduction in cost considering exclusion of manpower, lab services, overhead, etc.

My wee little two pennies.

P.osty S.cripty: Oh, and I agree to HG's above comment to an extent. I do realize that I am living in a one-horse town where we still see precious little of this sort of thing, but it still shocks me to my core to hear of kids in elementary school experimenting with drugs. It's just not something I can wrap my lil pea brain around, except in the context of inner-city kids, which I studied somewhat extensively while @University. Aside from my previous mentioned brain malfunction with young 'uns experimenting with drugs, Xanax and ALL Benzodiazepines (!!!) scare the everlovin' SHIT out of me. I have witnessed several friends descend into the hell of Benzo addiction, and they (the Benzos) are nothing to be f'ed with at ANY age.

THAT said, weed has never been my bag (get that?? I made a joke, lol), but I don't have TOO much of an issue w/ older "kids" EXPERIMENTING with it so long as they're in a safe place. Don't y'all tell my daddy (haha!), but the first time I smoked weed was at my folks' home with my mom, my boyfriend and his best friend when I was about 17-1/2 and they were both 18... My dad was on-duty, of course. I didn't like it and didn't smoke it again until years later up @Humboldt... some of you have read my awful/funny experience on that occasion. No more weed for me. Mom always had the mindset that she wanted us to be safe, no matter what, and would also let us have a few beers at the house, so long as the boys either camped out on the property (which they loved) or in the basement when it was too cold to camp. If they'd smoked-out or had beers, they stayed overnight, no questions. But ja, again... can't wrap my pea brain around young kids using drugs of any kind.

Geez.

I just looked up the cost and accuracy of home drug tests online.

You can buy a 12-drug home test w/99% accuracy and recommended FREE LAB CONFIRMATION if you so choose for $40. Ja, I say again: Parents' responsibility and no doubt a local grant writer can easily obtain some funding for the families who can simply not afford even that small amount out of their stretched budgets.

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Comparing marijuana to those other drugs is like comparing a chihuahua to a timberwolf

I have four of these on hand for $50 each if the school wants them.
Mine are yellow in color and attached to a floor stand. You put a quarter in and then blow into it through a drinking straw and it gives your breath alcohol reading. They talk to you and everything.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Coin-Operated-Voice-Guided-Alcohol-Analyzer-/170975463853?pt=US_Breathalyzers&hash=item27ceee89ad

BobW wrote:

I have four of these on hand for $50 each if the school wants them.
Mine are yellow in color and attached to a floor stand. You put a quarter in and then blow into it through a drinking straw and it gives your breath alcohol reading. They talk to you and everything.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Coin-Operated-Voice-Guided-Alcohol-Analyzer-/170975463853?pt=US_Breathalyzers&hash=item27ceee89ad

Bobby Baby, you might should carry those in your Homaseckshyal Car, knowing you!

yelladawg wrote:

Comparing marijuana to those other drugs is like comparing a chihuahua to a timberwolf

While I am not a pot smoker, I tend to agree with you, yeller feller.

Part of the issues is that people lie to young ones. The Elders say Marijuana is deadly, a gate way drug, a path to hell. Etc. They try it and nothing happens. No orgamasic high, no glimpse into the future, they just mellow out. Right there, we have lost their trust. We have lied. They know it. People are not some dumb ass creatures that live by slogans and platitudes. People live by what they know to be true. Drink orange Juice and it is good, drink Clorox and you have F'ed up.

BUT......Some of the drugs out there are really really bad. They will F you up after just a few trys. We put all these drugs in the same pot and think people dont know the difference. Sadly some dont and we have Meth, Crack and Heroin addicts.

It is a matter of young people being told the truth and their faith in us.

Some people react differently to pot. In 1970 or so, I got a guy stoned and he was an alcoholic... I remember feeling sorry for the guy because he wanted to buy some beer at 10 am (and there I was getting stoned early in the day and thinking nothing of it.) This guy got very paranoid, wondered if I put something in the doobie besides pot and said he would kill me if I had done that... woah!

When I am looking at a school district that is testing kids for drugs, it tells me that there is already a significant drug problem, and you can bet I will steer clear. I also agree with Hallmark about taking issue with a society that treats all children like criminals and teachers like police by arming them. I left the Escambia county school district for having just such a culture.

Baldwin schools are talking about giving kids breathalyzer tests on their way into dances, when you can bet that more parents driving the kids to the dances would have illegal alcohol levels than the kids.

Like it or not, the responsibility for drug and alcohol use rests on parents, and this proposal is ludicrous.