6 - 12 September 2001
Issue No.550
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 6 - 12 September 2001 Issue No.550 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Chemical discrimination
The People's Assembly is discussing a motion to introduce compulsory drug testing for school and university students whose exam results are deteriorating. Those who test positive for drug use should be "suspended until cured."
In light of the ongoing war on drugs, the motion will probably be lauded profusely, although we lack a medical- psychiatric system capable of handling addiction effectively, beyond the empty rhetoric of morality, religion and convention. The government has yet to establish a single medical institution that specialises in addiction treatment. In a society like ours, what is the logic behind such a motion? How will it be implemented? Who will provide treatment, when private health care is expensive and public health care nonexistent?
Perhaps students who take drugs should attend special classes, study a simplified version of the curriculum and wear a special uniform to identify them, so that other students can stay away. This brave new world is the logical conclusion of the reasoning behind compulsory drug tests. Such tests would constitute a further blow to the individual's right to personal freedom and confidentiality, and would automatically give rise to discrimination by staff, administration and other students. Even one-time users would be accused of moral deviance and suffer academic, psychological and social setbacks that would plague them for the rest of their lives. Such tests must be preceded by legislation that protects the individual's right to confidentiality. They require effective organisation, facilities and specialists, but also a public orientation that respects difference and accepts others, whether or not they take drugs. Tests can help limit drug abuse -- but only if we cease to regard it as a social phenomenon that will disappear if we deny its existence.
This week's Soapbox speaker is a physician who specialises in addiction treatment.
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