TEACHERS in York and North Yorkshire have dismissed random drug testing of pupils as "unnecessary" after the Conservatives pledged to drive drugs out of schools.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis, speaking at his party's conference in Bournemouth, said the fight against drug crime was his top law-and-order priority.

He pledged to "support, encourage and accelerate the implementation of random drug testing in schools", citing a survey which indicated that nearly 100,000 children aged between 13 and 15 had used cocaine.

Mr Davis said: "Children need to know that it is not cool to use drugs - it is stupid, it is dangerous, it is illegal. And parents should know the law will be enforced. If nothing is done, we will face a drugs epidemic, with terrible effects on our society."

Head teachers, in consultation with school governors and local police, already have the power to conduct drug tests and use sniffer dogs on school premises if they have reasonable grounds to suspect drug use.

But teachers in York and North Yorkshire say widespread random testing could do more harm than good.

John Butcher, assistant head teacher of Easingwold School, said staff were trained to look for the signs of drug use in pupils and if it was suspected then parents were informed immediately.

Mr Butcher said: "We do not feel that it (random drug testing) is a power that is necessary, certainly not at this time and not in this school. I think it's something that could be resented by students and parents alike, particularly if they didn't believe there was a demonstrable need for it.

"Drugs are a problem in society and they come into schools. But with the monitoring that we do we feel that random testing is an unnecessary power."

Chris Bridge, head teacher of Huntington School in York, said: "Random testing could be counterproductive. It would not pick out those who are regular users from those who had dabbled once.

"We would only want to test for drugs if we were looking for an explanation as to why a pupil's performance had suffered or their personality had changed."

Hugh Porter, head teacher of Joseph Rowntree School in York, said the power to test for drugs was a good idea in theory, but was difficult in practice. He said: "It can be a nice soundbite for politicians, but implementing the practicalities is a different matter."

Updated: 15:25 Thursday, October 07, 2004