Voluntary Drug-Testing Program To Start In Lacey Middle School Soon, Super Says

Would you want to know if you middle-schooler was using drugs?

Lacey parents will soon have the opportunity to find out. Superintendent Craig Wigley is planning to launch a random drug-testing program for Lacey seventh and eighth graders, according to app.com.

Wigley said the program is ready to launch after New Year's, and he expects about 100 of the middle school's roughly 700 students to participate.

Parents must enroll their seventh- and eighth-graders in order to take part in the voluntary program. Students who fail a random drug test will be suspended from sports and extracurricular activities for 10 days after the first offense, 45 days after the second offense, and longer for a third offense.

Lacey school officials hope that the plan will help students don't fall victim to peer pressure.

"It's everywhere," said Wigley, the superintendent. "The parents have been waiting for this (program), in some cases."

The standard kits test for the presence opiates, alcohol, amphetamines, benzodiazepine, cocaine, marijuana, PCP, heroin, among others. Each test kit costs about $30, depending on the panel of drugs tested and where in the country the samples are tested.

The middle school program is modeled on a similar, but mandatory, random drug-testing program used in Lacey Township High School. Students who participate in any extracurricular activities, park on school property, attend dances and play sports must agree to random drug-testing.

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Image: Patch file photo