A study of drug discipline policies in secondary schools

Little is known about how secondary schools respond to substance abuse in terms of policies, practices, or procedures. A comprehensive survey of St. Louis County public secondary schools conducted in Fall 1979 suggests that many school officials are more punitive than their juvenile court counterparts when handling incidents of drug use. A range of exclusionary discipline policies is the predominant sanction invoked against students who violate established substance-abuse policies. Questionnaire results indicate the existence of due process violations and the differential enforcement of alcohol and marijuana offenses. Furthermore, unlike the criminal justice system, many schools do not consider the amount or type of drug use or students' prior behavior as criteria for determining an appropriate disciplinary sanction. Several areas for the revision of substance-abuse policies in schools are suggested, including: acknowledging alcohol as a potentially dangerous drug, assuring that school sanctions are individually tailored to pupils' best interests and needs, developing in-school alternative programs to suspension, and providing for the total compliance of substance-abuse policies with students' legal rights.