NJ SCHOOL DISTRICT HALTING USE OF KIT TO DETECT DRUGS

NEPTUNE -(AP)- Four New Jersey school districts have been conducting
drug residue tests at some of their schools for several months, but
one has discontinued the practice because it found the testing kits
to be unreliable.

[snip]

Craig Henry, principal of the district's high school, said the
agents used to clean the surfaces before the tests would sometimes
react with the sprays, causing false positives.

"We saw no practical application because of its lack of reliability
at the stage that we last saw the product," he said. "There was no
point in pursuing it."

The Washington D.C.-based Mistral Group, which manufactures the
kits, said the kits have been modified since the problem was
discovered.

Pubdate: Tue, 17 Sep 2002
Source: Bergen Record (NJ)
Copyright: 2002 Bergen Record Corp.