School drug tests don't work, but 'positive climate' might

At best, [Daniel Romer, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania Annenberg Public Policy Center in Philadelphia] said, the policies might convince kids to lay off the drug their school is testing for—which is most commonly marijuana. But even if that's true, Romer added, students in school sports and clubs are actually not the ones at greatest risk of developing drug problems. "So as a prevention effort," Romer said, "school drug testing is kind of wrong-headed."

So what does work? In this study, there was evidence that a positive school climate might help.

During the initial interviews, students were asked about their school environment; a school was considered to have a positive climate when kids said there were clear rules, and students and teachers treated each other with respect. Over the next year, students in positive environments were about 20 percent less likely to try marijuana and 15 percent less likely to light up a cigarette.

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-01-school-drug-dont-positive-climate.html

The entire article from the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.