
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 6, 1991                   TAG: 9104060068
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

DRUG CZAR REJECTS STUDENT TESTING

National drug policy director Bob Martinez said Friday that colleges haven't been sufficiently aggressive in fighting drug abuse on campus but he Martinez rejected the idea of mandatory drug tests for students.

"A university is not a drug-usesafehouse," he said. "Compliance with the law of the land isn't too stringent a requirement for American students."

Martinez, who was sworn in two weeks ago, said there were plenty of existing tools to combat drug abuse that college administrators should employ before even discussing tests.

Martinez spoke to about 200 representatives of fraternities and sororities just weeks after three University of Virginia fraternity houses were raided and a dozen students were arrested.

He urged schools to comply with federal drug-free schools regulations, which require universities that receive federal funds to implement drug-prevention programs and stress laws against drug abuse.

After the raid, Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder appointed a task force to study drug abuse at state colleges and said he wouldn't object if it recommended mandatory drug testing for students.

Reacting to the implied criticism, Wilder issued a statement late Friday saying Martinez "bemoans the drug-use problem, but he offers no solution except to ask for voluntary compliance with existing regulations."

by CNB