The availability of urine screening has resulted in parents seeking this procedure when they suspect their adolescent abuses drugs. To systematically evaluate this practice, 100 consecutive adolescents were screened by use of a sensitive quantiative method which can detect low levels of drug use. A total of 43% of the adolescents tested positive for one or more drugs of abuse, and 25% entered treatment. Eight (8%) proved dependent upon drugs to the point of requiring medical detoxification or inpatient treatment. In this study, urine screening, which was done for clinical rather than punitive purposes, appeared to facilitate entry into treatment.