What are these people smoking?

Chicago - Beginning next fall, St. Patrick's High School, on the northwest side, will become the first in Illinois to require drug tests of all its students.

A number of public schools require students who participate in extra-curricular activities to undergo drug testing, but are barred by Supreme Court ruling from extending such tests to all students. Principal Joseph Schmidt said he considers the all-boys school, at 5900 W. Belmont Av., the "catalyst" in Illinois for universal testing.

Schmidt is quick to note that this will NOT be a "zero-tolerance" program. He said any student who tests positive will be asked to find a counseling or treatment option. ...

"They have really 100 days, because that kid's going to get tested again," Schmidt said. "We'd better see some improvement, if not a total stop, in terms of what happens with that drug use."

Or else what? It sounds like instead of "zero-tolerance" it's just "deferred zero-tolerance." A distinction without a difference, I'd say. The two ideas behind all such efforts are a)students are objects, not people, who have no rights, human or civil, and b)the threat of discovery will prevent drug use. But of course, the people most likely to be deterred by such a policy are the casual users, the recreational users, the ones for who the bumper-sticker program of "just say no" is a real option, those who can and will stop if using drugs becomes an inconvenience. The ones who actually have problems with drugs, the ones who actually have problems that impel them to drugs, are the least likely to be deterred - and thus the least likely to be helped and the most likely to be hurt by this kind of short-sighted idiocy.

On the other hand, if you want to know what a real "zero-tolerance" policy looks like, check this out from the Shreveport [Louisiana] Times:

A student expelled from Parkway High for a year for having Advil, an over-the-counter pain reliever, will not be allowed to return to the school. ...

The committee and the full board voted unanimously to uphold an administrative decision that [sophomore Amanda] Stiles be expelled to the alternative school. ...

Superintendent Ken Kruithof said after the board meeting that the school system is following a state law that requires a one-year expulsion and being consistent in the system's "zero-tolerance" policy. ...

State guidelines define medication as "all prescription and nonprescription drugs," [student services director Betty] McCauley said Thursday afternoon.

You read that right. Advil. Expelled for having Advil - a widely-advertised over-the-counter analgesic which you can walk into any pharmacy or grocery store and buy without even having to show you're above a certain age. But by cracky, have it in a school and your sorry ass is out of here, buckaroo!

The question arises, is this really about controlling drugs - or controlling people? Is it about prevention - or power? Is it about "because we should" - or "because we can?" The paucity of evidence that drug testing has really cut down on drug use in schools or drug-related incidents at work tells me that the latter answers are closer to the mark.

"We're really doing it to help our kids," Principal Schmidt said.

Sure you are.