At the same time, the guide lauds a recent Supreme Court decision to allow schools to randomly test students for drugs and encourages schools to investigate doing so.

The new guidelines released by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) addressed school drug-testing policies. According to the guidelines, the goal of such testing "is not to trap and punish students who use drugs. It is, in fact, counterproductive simply to punish them without trying to alter their behavior."

The guidelines, which caution against suspending or expelling students without treating them, contradict the policies in many school districts throughout the United States.

Dan Langan, an Education Department spokesman, said, "The guide is a tool and it's a helpful tool, but how a district and a school chose to implement any recommendations in the guide is up to them," Langan said. "How it's carried out in a school district would be a local issue."

Kathleen Lyons, spokeswoman for the National Education Association, said the group would support the new guidelines.

"That's what we would endorse, helping kids, not simply punishing them," she said. "It doesn't do anybody any good just to take a drug test and kick the kid out of school -- where's he going to go? It doesn't solve anyone's problem and may in fact worsen it."

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