Drug testing kit for kids 'ruins trust'

A new home-testing kit that detects drug use through hair samples has been branded an invasion of privacy by Australian civil liberties and health groups.

One spokesman said the tests would ruin trust between parents and their children.

HairConfirm, produced by American biotech company Confirm BioSciences and launched in Australia this month, is marketed to those concerned their children are using drugs.

Parents who buy the A$65 (NZ$80) kit can collect a lock of their child's hair and send it to the US to be analysed for drugs including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, amphetamine and methamphetamine. The results, claimed to be 99.9 per cent accurate, are available online within 48 hours.

Peter Menedis - a consultant to the kit's international distributor, Instant Drug Testing - said people had a right to know if their child was using drugs.

''The parent is responsible for the child. No parent wants to see their child descend into addiction. Every parent wants to be the best parent they can be and they want to do what's best for their children.''

NSW Council for Civil Liberties president Cameron Murphy said such kits were notoriously inaccurate and called for consumers to be wary.

''All parents worry about their kids and these companies exploit their fears,'' he said.

Mr Menedis said the kits had been extremely popular since being launched in the US 18 months ago. He said testing hair was superior to urine samples as it could detect use within the past 90 days.

But Australian Drug Foundation director Geoff Munro said testing children would not resolve substance abuse and could even create bigger problems. ''It's a very bad idea for parents to become detectives. It's like reading a child's diary, it's violating their privacy.

''It will destroy trust and once that has gone it's difficult, if not impossible, to rebuild.''

If parents were concerned children may be using drugs, they should talk to them or seek advice from health professionals, he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News