Position Paper

DepEd Order No.40 s. 2017 Random Drug Testing Among Public and Private School Students

High School students from public and private school will be subject to random drug testing this coming school year 2018-2019. The mandatory drug testing to students has been approved by the Commission on Higher Education. DepEd Order no. 40 series of 2017 - Random Drug Testing among Public and Private Secondary Schools is an implementation of random drug tests that will be done among public or private students in the Philippines particularly to tests the prevalence of drug users among students. This DepEd Order can be an efficient approach by the government’s efforts against dangerous drugs and substance abuse in the country.

It is inevitable that the said order have received a lot of reactions from the society. Students may not be able to protect their confidentiality if ever they were confirmed positive drug user; however the government has clearly verified that any information gain from the drug tests will not be publicized and shall be treated with utmost confidentiality.

Also, the government cleared that if a student is found to be a positive drug-user, they will be referred for counselling and intervention to the Department of Social Welfare and Development and undergo supervisions of the DOH-accredited facility in coordination with the parent for the purpose of this implementation is not to punish students but to prevent the multiplication of future drug users.

Furthermore, drug testing is not intended for chastening the lives of students. Rather, it is to implement a new set of disciplined millennia that envisions a greater possibility of development and progress. Drug testing among students may have the potential to detach the country’s name from being one of the most numbers of drug users in Asia.

Kathleen N. Espinosa

HUMSS 11 Weber