The office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data has raised a host of questions about the government's plan to randomly test Tai Po students for drugs. We should not be surprised. The queries are basic ones which authorities should have answered before announcing last Thursday that the six-month trial would begin in December. It was obvious at the time that the scheme had not been properly thought through; the commissioner's concerns only confirm the lack of forethought.
Privacy is just one of several issues raised by the trial. The government is rightly worried about drug abuse among our city's youth. There is no evidence from similar programmes overseas, though, that random testing greatly reduces use. Rather, it pushes students into using drugs that are difficult to detect, makes heroes and villains of those who are caught, erodes the trust of schools and teachers and opens a Pandora's box of ways to make tests invalid.
The commissioner does not say that the trial should be stopped. Instead, questions have been put forward which have not been addressed by authorities. Among them are what measures have been taken to ensure that data that has been collected is properly stored, how long it will be retained and who is entitled to see it, and whether parents have the authority to sign their children up. Behind each is the possibility that a student could take legal action for being tested.
Not all schools are yet on board with the trial, for which organisational work begins when the summer holiday ends next month. The Catholic Church has expressed reservations about participating, and principals and teachers may yet raise doubts. They have good reason to. Drug testing in schools is controversial and should be subjected to thorough community debate. That has not taken place - to the point that authorities even ignored the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data.
No society has eliminated drugs. Reducing use requires education, policing and judicial support. These are far better ways than random testing in schools to stop teens taking drugs.