Max Silver* doesn’t want to get caught. But his parents want to know the truth.
“My parents would get so mad if they knew I did drugs,” Silver said. “They’re definitely the kind that would test me to see if I was clean.”
By offering drug tests free of charge, the Birmingham Police Department hopes to help parents with sons and daughters they suspect are using drugs.
“We started offering these free kits to families that had some concerns about their sons or daughters possibly using,” Detective Corporal Ron Halcrow said. “It’s mostly to try to establish some honesty on [the kid’s] part, and so the parents can be proactive.”
Though Silver doesn’t find the idea of free drug kits appealing, he’s certain that his parents would.
“If my parents knew about the tests,” Silver said, “they would totally try to get one.”
According to Halcrow, the kits test for eight different drugs.
“The one we’re currently giving out right now is an eight-panel drug test kit,” Halcrow said. “It’s a urine based kit. It tests for barbiturates, amphetamines, methamphetamines, cocaine, oxycontin, THC, marijuana, and alcohol.”
The kits are designed for at-home use, so the outcome is instant.
“It’s a home evaluation,” Halcrow said. “[Parents] don’t have to send it out to any company. They’ll get immediate results right there.”
Penalties for testing positive, however, are up to the parents.
“It’s really the parents giving the consequences,” Crisis Councilor Sherree Williams said. “It’s the parents’ decision. The school doesn’t drug test kids. We don’t tell parents to drug test kids. It’s completely up to the parents.”
Silver is thankful the school doesn’t penalize students, but knows that his parents’ retribution would be just as bad, if not worse.
“If my parents found out that I did drugs, my social life would be over,” Silver said. “I would be grounded for a while. But I’m glad the school doesn’t punish kids. That would just make it worse.”
Halcrow hopes that parents of drug-using students will help their children as opposed to merely disciplining them.
“If [parents] suspect that their kids are using,” Halcrow said, “then they can get them into some medical treatment, a rehab if necessary, counseling -- whatever might assist them in changing that behavior.”
If a student is found using drugs at Seaholm, Williams says that she is more than willing to talk to them.
“I like to think that hopefully the outcome is positive,” Williams said. “That the kid comes up clean. But I will talk to them [if it is negative].”
Halcrow also wants to encourage local parents to use the Birmingham Police Department’s services.
“As long as they live here in the city,” Halcrow said, “Then the door is open for all of them to come in to take that kind of action if they want to. I’d like to have the people feel free to come to see me and talk to me about the issues that parent have.”
He added that the police department is more versatile than many think.
“It’s not just a simple ‘Bring information in and then get prosecution.’ It’s more service oriented right now. So they don’t have to think that the police department is just one-dimensional.”
*Names have been changed to protect the identity of source.
