The first national study on drug testing has been released. The findings: Drug testing has no effect on deterring student drug use.

The study, published last month in The Journal of School Health, a peer-reviewed publication of the American School Health Association, found that 37 percent of 12th graders in schools that tested for drugs said they had smoked marijuana in the last year, compared with 36 percent in schools that did not. In a universe of tens of thousands of students, such a slight deviation is statistically insignificant, and it means the results are essentially identical, the researchers said. Similarly, 21 percent of 12th graders in schools with testing said they had used other illicit drugs like cocaine or heroin in the last year, while 19 percent of their counterparts in schools without screening said they had done so.

The same pattern held for every other drug and grade level. Whether looking at marijuana or harder drugs like cocaine and heroin, or middle school pupils compared with high school students, the fact that their schools tested for drugs showed no signs of slowing their drug use.

The Supreme Court, in upholding drug testing of student athletes and those involved in extra-curricular activities, justified the privacy intrusion , relied upon the assumption that the screening combats drug abuse.

This is the largest study ever conducted on the subject. It was paid for by the federal government and tracked students across the nation for 30 years. "The study, published last month in The Journal of School Health, a peer-reviewed publication of the American School Health Association."

Since the Supreme Court did not have the benefit of this study at the time it ruled in the student drug testing cases, we hope the Supreme Court accepts another case on the issue and reverses itself. As one expert says,

"Schools should not implement a drug testing program until they're proven to work," he added. "They're too expensive. It's like having experimental surgery that's never been shown to work."

Put another way, ACLU lawyer Graham Boyd, says,

"Now there should be no reason for a school to impose an intrusive or even insulting drug test when it's not going to do anything about student drug use."