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UK: Drug test for kids prompts debate in Britain
AFP
Friday 14 May 2004 LONDON (AFP) - The launch in Britain of a home drug-testing kit next week has led experts to caution against the over-the-counter product which, they say, will lead to parents spying on, and confronting, their children rather than offering discussion and support. The Six-Drug MultiTest, manufactured by the Irish firm Hunter Diagnostics, can detect the presence of six drugs in urine, including cannabis, heroin, cocaine and ecstasy. It will cost just over 12 pounds (18 euros, 21 dollars) and some 11,000 units have already been sold in Ireland over the past year -- 50 percent of them to parents, with police, hospitals and school among the other buyers. "Obviously a child's involvement with drugs is every parent's nightmare, but communication is always better than testing and accusation," said Rebecca Cheshire from the drugs treatment charity Addaction. Parents, she added, were not best equipped to self-test their children. "Testing young people in the home is not the right way to address the issue, because appropriate information, support and expertise are essential," Cheshire told AFP. A spokesman for Britain's leading center of expertise on drugs, Drugscope, echoed similar uneasiness about the product. "There is quite a lot of evidence that children need to have an open and supportive relation with their parents or care-takers. This test could completely destroy that relationship as it is, in itself, a presumption of guilt," he said. He also warned the test could be misleading in not distinguishing between occasional use and addiction. "Teenage years are a big stage of experimentation and because someone tests positive, it doesn't prove that he or she has a substance abuse problem," he said. Britain's Home Office also has its doubts. "It is for parents to determine whether or not to make use of drug-testing kits, but we do advise that parents consider very carefully the effect that such an intervention may have on their relationship," it said. Rather, parents should rely on drug education programs in schools and "seek advice and support for themselves from the growing number of services," it said in a statement. Hunter Diagnostics marketing manager John Mullee dismissed the concerns as "not holding water." "Urine is required to test the drug intake, so it requires the agreement from the kid -- which means interaction and communication with parents," he said in a telephone interview. Mullee said the threat of being tested at home would empower teenagers to say no to drugs. "Most kids start drugs because of peer pressure. They don't like to say no. This test gives them the chance to give a valid excuse while keeping their credibility with their friends," he said. But Simon Cusworth, a psychologist in Leeds, in the north of England, said that, as most teenagers deny taking drugs when cross-examined by their parents, they would also refuse to take the test. "Unless parents are ready to sneak around behind their kids' back and pick up a urine sample in the toilet bowl, I don't think teenagers will agree to take the test," he said. "The best way is for parents to seek support and the government should be funding more help programs," he said. Mullee said: "A sample diluted in water would not be valid and the top control line of the test would tell just that." "If parents are willing to see a reasonable request being turned down by their kids, that has to be dealt with. They would not let their five-year-old cross the streets alone," he added. Hunter Diagnostics is in advanced discussions with Belgium, France, Iceland, Iran and Spain to launch the product in those countries next year.
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