John P. Walters

"The goal is to say we believe we can do a better job of making kids healthy," said John P. Walters, who directs the office.Kicking students out of school without treatment can create "drug-using dropouts," an even bigger problem, the report said.

The advice challenges policies in many districts to automatically suspend or expel students caught with drugs.

The new policy was announced a day after the agency released a separate report in Miami, Fla., showing a decline in first-time marijuana users last year.