In January 2005, a school in Kent become the first state school in the UK to report the introduction of random (‘suspicionless’) drug testing. Testing is already widespread in independent boarding schools, with three-quarters of schools reported to be using some drug testing.1 There is no doubt that for governors, teachers and parents drug testing seems an attractive solution both to prevent and deal with illicit drug use among their pupils. The Kent initiative, partly funded by the News of World and supported by the testing manufacturers Altrix Healthcare plc, has been broadly welcomed, such that only a small proportion of parents have opted their children out of the scheme.2 Despite the enthusiasm from teachers and parents for testing, few empirical studies have examined the effects of drug testing in schools. With adults, an Independent Inquiry into Drug Testing at Work3 cautioned against introducing random drug testing in the workplace, concluding that it was inappropriate to drug test as a means of policing private behaviour of employees or improving productivity, except perhaps in safety-critical industries. We believe that if drug testing is not appropriate for adult employees then it should also be unacceptable to test school children.