Associated Press
June 6, 1998
By Amy FrazierSee House Republicans Renew Push for Mandatory
Drug Testing of Members and Staff and links
GINGRICH TALKS OF SCHOOL DRUG TESTS
MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) - Schools need to do whatever it takes to keep drugs out, even if it
means mandatory drug testing for students, House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Saturday.
"If necessary, we need to test kids, and that should be a
condition of going to school,"
Gingrich told about 100 parents attending a
drug-awareness seminar in his district north of Atlanta. "If you want your child to
be in school and that child behaves in a way that is suspicious, they should have the
right to test him or immediately send him home"
He said the war on drugs can be won but new methods of fighting
are needed, such as drug-sniffing dogs in schools and sentencing reform.
"If you find someone who’s doing drugs, make part of their sentence
contingent on turning in the dealer,"
he said to audience applause.
"We’re in a country today where the children are in trouble, and the dealers are
safe."
Gingrich said some people may feel such strict rules are unfair.
"The difference is if you’re in a safe school and there’s an unfairness,
your child is safe," he said. "If you’re in an undisciplined, dangerous
environment and there’s unfairness, your child could get badly hurt."
Currently, members of Congress don’t have to undergo drug testing although a bill
was introduced last week to require all House members and many of their staffers to be
tested.
Gingrich, who said he already submits to checks, said he planned
to begin testing his staff for drug use.
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