By Mike Donahue

Moapa Valley Progress

Moapa Valley Empowerment High School (MVHS) officials are seeking permission to participate in a free three-year drug testing program the goal of which is to identify and offer help to local students who may be using and/or abusing drugs, according to Hal Mortensen, assistant principal.

In order for the school to take part in the program, which will be completely financed by the Adelson Clinic, a non-profit substance abuse treatment organization and facility in Las Vegas, at least 80 percent of the parents of MVHS students must opt in, Mortensen said. The school last week mailed a survey seeking parents’ approval or denial to participate in the program.

Mortensen is encouraging parents of all MVHS students to return the survey as quickly as possible.

“If we get the 80 percent approval, we’d like to start the program in January (2012) or at the start of the school year next September,” he said.

If approved, MVHS would implement a urine screening program in which every student in the school would be tested for drugs three times a year on a random time basis, Mortensen explained. Should a student test positive, his or her parents or guardians would be notified and the school would encourage drug counseling.

Before approaching MVHS, the Adelson Clinic, owned and operated by Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, approached numerous high schools in Las Vegas asking if they would be interested in participating in the drug testing program, according to Paul Schiffman, a member of the Adelson Clinic board of directors and head of the Adelson Educational Campus, an educational center for kids ages 18 months through high school.

“Quite frankly, no other school even responded to the offer,” Schiffman said. “Then Mike Houghtalen, a member of our staff who lives out there, suggested we talk to Moapa Valley High School and they seemed thrilled with the idea.”

Mortensen said that once the program was explained it seemed like a deal too good to pass up.

“Essentially, the Adelson Clinic is donating $10,000 a year for three years to conduct the testing program,” said Mortensen, who is heading the MVHS program and will be the liaison with Adelson.

In the program, in an attempt to ensure confidentiality, every MVHS student will be assigned a number, known only to school administrators. Qualified staff will then administer a urinalysis which will be tested by Adelson Clinic. The clinic will then return the results to the school.

“If a student tests positive for a drug, the results will be shared with parents/guardians, and the school will destroy any and all copies of the results, except for students who are participating in NIAA sanctioned sports,” Mortensen said. “NIAA regulations require any athlete who tests positive for drugs be ineligible to play sports for two to six weeks. There will be no disciplinary action taken against any other student.”

Mortensen said the school will suggest drug counseling to parents for students who test positive. For those students without insurance and who need help, the Adelson Clinic has also offered to assist with the counseling.

“This program will identify any type of drug in a student’s system – opiates, prescriptions, alcohol, barbiturates and a host of others,” Mortensen said. “If the drug is a medication prescribed to the student, parents will get a precautionary notification. Of course we encourage parents and students to notify the school nurse in advance for any long-term prescription use.”

Mortensen said he expects some opposition but believes the free testing program is something that will benefit MVHS students.

“People will say it’s an invasion of privacy and all other types of things,” Mortensen said. “But that’s not our intent. Our intent is to help our students.

“I’m passionate about this,” he continued. “We’ve had kids you wouldn’t believe it could happen to abusing drugs. Nowadays it is extremely hard to tell if someone is using drugs and we feel if we can catch them before it’s too late, we can help them.

“We know if you get it early enough, there’s a stage when treatment has a better chance of being successful,” Mortensen continued. “It is like a cancer that is easier to eradicate if caught early enough. The sole purpose of the screening is to offer help and assistance to our students.”

“The whole purpose of the drug testing program is to save lives,” Schiffman said. “I’ve attended too many funerals for young people who died because of drugs. We’re prepared to reach out to kids, we’re prepared to do anything we can to save a kid and if we save just one life it’s worth the money.”

The Adelson Clinic is the only Las Vegas facility that can treat adolescents, Schiffman said.