Pubdate: Thu, 24 Jul 2008
Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL)
Copyright: 2008 Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Contact:  http://www.heraldtribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/398
Author: Christopher O'Donnell
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)

MANATEE TO DRUG-TEST STUDENT ATHLETES

MANATEE COUNTY - High school athletes and even cheerleaders in
Manatee schools will be randomly tested  for recreational drug and
alcohol use this fall under a new program that will be among the
strictest in  Florida.

The district is one of three in the state that received a federal
grant to test students on varsity sports  teams for use of alcohol,
marijuana, cocaine and  heroin.

Officials say testing will help students stay drug free by giving
them a cast-iron reason to say 'no' when  friends are pressuring them
to drink or use.

As many as 50 percent of Manatee's high school athletes  and
cheerleaders, about 1,000 students, will take urine  tests during the
upcoming school year. The tests will  also include an alcohol breath
test.

Students who test positive will not face expulsion or suspensions,
but will be barred from competing in  school sports for time periods
that lengthen with each  positive test.

They will also be required to undergo counseling or drug treatment if
they want to play again. Sarasota and  Charlotte schools do not have
drug testing programs in  place.

Some experts warn that the testing targets students who are unlikely
to abuse substances, and they say the  money would be better spent on
drug education.

But Manatee officials applied for the $103,000 federal grant because
they believe drug use by county students  is above the state average,
said Skip Wilhoit, a  teacher with Manatee's Safe and Drug-Free
Schools  program. Forty-eight other grants were awarded  nationally.

In a 2006 state survey, almost 35 percent of Manatee students said
they had used alcohol in the past month,  and about 13 percent
admitted to smoking marijuana.

"It's designed to catch the students who have problems with this,"
Wilhoit said. "If you go ahead and use when  you're subject to random
testing, you obviously have a  problem."

Some school officials also argue that the testing will make sports
safer for athletes, and even for  cheerleaders whose sport includes
being thrown into the  air.

But there is disagreement about how effective testing programs
are.

A nationwide study of 76,000 students in 2001 found that that testing
did not reduce the number of middle  and high schoolers using illegal
drugs.

Critics argue that testing increases distrust between students and
their schools, and that it does not target  students most in need of
help.

Money for testing would be better spent on drug education or on
counseling for students with drug  problems, said Marsha Rosenbaum, a
medical sociologist  with the Drug Policy Alliance, a New York
nonprofit  group that advocates for access to drug treatment.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that testing causes some students to drop
out of school sports, Rosenbaum said.

"If you've got a kid who wants to play baseball but doesn't want to
be drug tested, don't you want to keep  them in baseball?" she asked.

The debate over testing student-athletes has come up in several
states. Matthews County schools in Virginia  investigated drug testing
a few years back after losing  six members of its baseball team for
drinking.  Administrators and parents there decided it was the 
responsibility of the parents to stop their children  from using drugs.

"Schools can't do everything for parents; we finally came to that
conclusion," said former Superintendent  Harry Ward.

Around 600 Florida high school students competing in football,
baseball, softball and weightlifting were  tested for steroid use
during the the last school year  in a state-funded program.

Only one student, a football player, produced a positive test.
Legislators did not renew funding for  the program during this year's
legislative session. The  Manatee program does not test for steroid
use.

In 2004, Sarasota Military Academy launched a recreational
drug-testing program for all students, faculty and staff. Principal
Dan Kennedy said the  program produced about three positive tests per
year.

"I think it should be done at every school and for all the student
population," Kennedy said. "I've had  students come to me with tears
in their eyes saying  it's given them the power to say no."

Under Manatee's new program, athletes and cheerleaders who refuse to
sign a testing consent form would not be  allowed to take part in sports.

Students chosen to be tested will be called to the school clinic,
asked to empty their pockets and then  supply a urine sample and
perform an alcohol breath  test. The testing is done in the clinic.
Positive test  results will be shared with the student, their parents,
 the athletic director, the principal and coaches, but  not law
enforcement.

Some parents and students in Manatee said they support  the
program.

"Other kids probably won't like it; they'll think it's ridiculous,
but if it stops the athletes from doing the wrong thing, then it's
the right thing," said Michael  Ohlman, a catcher for Lakewood Ranch
High's baseball  team.

Stacey Horton, coach of Braden River High's cheerleading squad, said
testing would help teachers  spot students abusing prescription drugs,
among the  trendier drugs.

"It's not marijuana -- they're taking pills," Horton said. "It's
hidden; you can't smell it, you can't  detect these
medications."

From 1995 to 2001, Manatee High School tested its athletes for
recreational drugs, paying for testing  kits with money from gate
receipts and school booster  funds. The program was in place at that
school because  football coach Joe Kinnan felt strongly that it was a 
way to keep students clean and allow them to serve as  role models for
others.

"The feedback I got from other students was, 'Coach, this is making a
difference,'" Kinnan said.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin