The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy will be hosting a regional Random Student Drug Testing Summit in 2008. Random student drug testing is a valuable prevention strategy that can help deter children from initiating drug use. It can also help identify children who have just started using drugs as well as children who have a dependency so that they may be referred to treatment. Student drug testing programs are developed by the schools in which they are implemented so that the program is specifically tailored to the needs of the community. All random student drug testing programs are designed to act as deterrent and are not by format or nature punitive.

The Random Student Drug Testing Summit will address relevant legal and program development issues and serve as an introduction for schools that would like to learn more about student drug testing.

Summit attendees will also learn about the newly created Student Drug Testing Institute. Launched in September, the SDT Institute is designed to assist in schools and school districts in implementing drug testing programs and to provide technical assistance for existing programs.

Summit dates and locations are as follows:

October 21, 2008 - Omaha, Nebraska

October 29, 2008 - Albany, New York

Feel free to forward this announcement to others who may be interested.