Pubdate: Mon, 30 Dec 2002
Source: Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN)
Copyright: 2002 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.
Contact:  http://www.knoxnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/226
Author: JULIA SILVERMAN, Associated Press

STUDY SUGGESTS RANDOM DRUG TESTING WORKS IN SCHOOLS

PORTLAND, Ore. - Student-athletes subject to random drug testing at an 
Oregon high school were almost four times less likely to use drugs than 
their counterparts at a similar school who were not tested, a study shows.

The one-year pilot study by researchers at Oregon Health & Sciences 
University compared Wahtonka High School in The Dalles, where all 
student-athletes were subject to random testing, and Warrenton High School, 
a demographically similar school near Astoria, where they were not.

Of the 135 athletes subject to the random testing at Wahtonka, only 5.3 
percent said they were using illicit drugs by the end of the school year, 
versus 19.4 percent of the 141 athletes at Warrenton.

They also were three times less likely to use performance-enhancing 
substances like steroids, according to the survey responses, which were 
confidential.

The study, conducted during the 1999-2000 school year, was funded by the 
National Institute on Drug Abuse, an arm of the National Institutes of 
Health. The results are published in next month's Journal of Adolescent Health.

"The differences between the schools were dramatic," said Dr. Linn 
Goldberg, a lead researcher in the study. "And the differences between the 
non-athletes (who were not tested at either school but who filled out 
questionnaires about drug use) were not significant." Results showed 32.2 
percent at Warrenton and 26.6 percent at Wahtonka saying they had used 
illicit drugs.

The study comes six months after the issue was thrown into the spotlight by 
the U.S. Supreme Court. In June, the court ruled that children attending 
public schools can be required to participate in drug testing if they join 
any competitive after-school activity, from football to chess.

Merry Holland, principal at Wahtonka, said the school has continued to test 
athletes since the study ended.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart