Pubdate: Tue, 07 Feb 2006
Source: Amarillo Globe-News (TX)
Copyright: 2006 Amarillo Globe-News
Contact:  http://amarillonet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/13
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

SCHOOL DRUG TESTS PASSING THE TEST

More Districts Implementing Program

It took the U.S. Supreme Court to settle the issue, but public school
districts can legally conduct student drug tests on a random basis.

Many school districts in the Texas Panhandle have been doing so for
years, some since the mid-1990s for students choosing to participate
in extracurricular activities.

And guess what?

There's been no mass exodus of students unwilling to submit to random
drug testing, no governmental crackdown of the "Big Brother" variety
and no shredding of the U.S. Constitution.

What has happened since the Supreme Court affirmed random drug testing
in 2002, a ruling sparked by lawsuits in Tulia and Lockney, is that
more districts are choosing to implement such testing.

Why would this be - because school officials want to peer and pry into
the private lives of teenagers and children and deprive them of their
rights, or would it be because school officials want to take whatever
steps necessary to protect the health and future of these same students?

We think it is the latter.

The Globe-News detailed student drug-testing programs in several local
school districts Saturday, and it is clear such programs are on the
increase.

Those who see beyond half-baked conspiracy theories and perceived
constitutional violations that do not exist welcome this
advancement.
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MAP posted-by: Derek