Below is a news release on a policy statement appearing in the March issue of Pediatrics, the peer-reviewed, scientific journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). To receive the full text of this report, please contact the AAP Department of Communications.

For Release: March 5, 2007, 12:01 am (ET)

CHICAGO - Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have resulted in recommendations for adolescent drug testing in schools, and products made available for parents to test their children at home. A addendum to the 1996 AAP Policy Statement, “Testing for Drugs of Abuse in Children and Adolescents,” opposes involuntary drug testing of adolescents at school or at home and believes more research is needed on both the safety and effectiveness before testing programs are implemented. Laboratory testing for drugs is a scientifically complex procedure, which may be prone to both false-positive and false-negative tests. Testing should only be carried out by professionals with special training in the procedure; most pediatricians have not been adequately prepared to do this. The majority of physicians surveyed in the 2006 Journal of Adolescent Health (83 percent) disagreed with drug testing in public schools, which can be perceived by adolescents as an unwarranted invasion of privacy. The AAP encourages parents who are concerned their child may be using drugs or alcohol to consult their child’s pediatrician rather than rely on school or home-based drug testing products.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.