Members of the Kanawha County Commission voted to support the county school board's drug testing policy even though the decision might land them in court.

County Commissioners Kent Carper, Dave Hardy and Hoppy Shores also voted to investigate expanding their own drug testing policy to include more county employees.

The action came at a regular meeting of the County Commission on Thursday.

Members of the American Federation of Teachers have challenged the school board's widespread drug testing policy in court. County officials decided to back the school board because they fear, if the school board's policy is found unconstitutional, it will radically affect the county's policy, as well.

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Saving Money Cannot Be Done By Risking The Public's Safety

New projections show that West Virginia's prison population is increasing and a new penitentiary will be needed sooner rather than later. At a cost of $200 million to build.

A summit on public safety earlier this month suggested that a special commission be assembled for the purpose of keeping more people out of prison.

That is a worthy goal. Every state program should be careful with its resources,

But the people assigned to this task force must bear in mind that the primary goal of the corrections system is to protect the public's safety.

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The Kanawha County Commission may join forces with the county school system in a legal fray and begin drug testing more, if not most, of its employees.

Its president, Kent Carper, wants the commission to expand its random drug-testing policy to include employees who handle money and records or deal with the public. This could include accountants, clerical workers and housing inspectors.

The commission already randomly tests "safety sensitive" county employees who operate vehicles and equipment or have firearms. Those categories include about 170 of its 417 employees.

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Union Files Suit In Kanawha Circuit Court

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha County school board members decided to enter a long legal battle over employee drug testing because of several high-profile drug incidents and their own political calculations, according to interviews with board members who support the policy.

The board decided last week to go ahead with its plan to randomly drug test teachers and other school employees despite warnings of a nasty, costly series of legal actions that started today.

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Members Anticipate Long Battle, But Believe Victory Could Change National Thinking

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Kanawha County school board realizes it may be headed for a costly legal battle over teacher drug testing, but it hopes to emerge with a victory that could change legal thinking around the country.

The five-member board on Thursday evening decided to go ahead with plans to randomly drug test teachers.

Both supporters and opponents of the plan to drug test nearly a quarter of school employees a year starting in January expect the program to be promptly halted by a judge.

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KEYSER - Student athletes and others who participate in certain extracurricular activities in Mineral County may be subject to random drug testing if the Mineral County Board of Education approves a policy they are currently considering.

The members are currently examining several policies that have been implemented by other counties in West Virginia, and after a lengthy discussion Tuesday evening directed Superintendent Skip Hackworth to draft a proposed policy for their consideration.

Among the items they are considering are allowing parents to "opt in" their students for drug testing even if they are not currently playing sports, and extending the drug testing policy to include any students participating in extra-curricular activities in which they might be involved in interscholastic competition.

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Students Warned To Be Wary Of Drugs And Those Who Sell Them

MONONGAH - Some special visitors came to Monongah Elementary Tuesday to encourage students to stay off drugs.

West Virginia State Police Trooper John McDougal, Marion County Sheriff's Deputy Sgt. Todd Cole and Fairmont Police Cpl. Donnie Neal, the city DARE officer, spoke to students Tuesday afternoon.

It's all part of this week's drug-awareness activities. This week is red-ribbon drug awareness week. Activities are held all week long in schools all over Marion County and the state to warn children of the dangers of drug abuse.

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With this policy, the Kanawha County school board is declaring a warrant against every employee in the county school system as having probable cause for drug use.

In the heart of the state born out of a war fought for state and civil rights, the Kanawha County Board of Education ironically seeks to strip its employees of fundamental rights afforded in the West Virginia Constitution:

"The rights of the citizens to be secure in their houses, persons, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated. No warrant shall issue except upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched, or the person or thing to be seized." (Article 3, section 6)

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Over objections that it could damage teacher moral and drag the county into a costly legal battle, the Kanawha County school board has voted to randomly test teachers for drugs.

In the 4-1 vote, the board looked to the corporate world and decided its pre-employment drug screenings and its suspicion-based testing for all employees was not enough.

Board member Bill Raglin said he didn't understand why the education community "thinks they're so different" from companies that currently test employees at random like his former employer, the Bayer plant in Institute.

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha County has received money from the federal government to start a drug court.

A $334,480 grant was issued by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, according to a news release Wednesday from the Kanawha County Commission.

The drug court will offer rehabilitative, counseling and job placement services for adult nonviolent offenders facing drug-related charges.

"I am excited to take the lead on this program as Chief Judge for Kanawha County and start a new program that will assist nonviolent offenders with rehabilitation and becoming productive citizens, while keeping them out of the overpopulated regional jail," said Chief Kanawha Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey Walker.

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The new random drug testing program for Cabell County schools is supported by most students.

The program was implemented for the 2008-2009 school year. Students who participate in athletics or purchase a parking pass at Cabell Midland and Huntington high schools will be subject to random drug testing throughout the year. All parents of Cabell County high school students may volunteer their child to be drug tested for $27.

"The feedback's all been positive, we really haven't had any students complain at all," Administrative Assistant for Secondary Education, Todd Alexander, said. According to Alexander, the policy was implemented due to drug problems in Cabell County.

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Editor:

Your editorial "Overcrowded Prison System" (July 8) prompts, once again, a call for common sense: repeal drug prohibition.

Ironically, it appeared on the same page as Charley Reese's column (http://www.lewrockwell.com/reese/reese384.html) headlined "Legal System Is Perverted." Though the case he cited was not related to drug policy, Mr. Reese is, nevertheless, a most articulate and outspoken opponent of our nation's drug polices - policies which foster international crime cartels, street gangs, narco-terrorism, use by minors, clandestine meth labs, police corruption, overburdened courts, and of course, explosive growth in prison populations by inmates who are neither violent nor thieving. And, to put it lightly, the "War on Drugs" has perverted our legal system.

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Debate over drug testing students is vigorous as more county school systems in West Virginia consider the possibility.

Franklin Crabtree believes random drug tests might discourage a high school student from participation in sports or other after-school activities, which could hurt their chances of getting into college.

Jack Wiseman says students should face consequences when they break the rules.

Anti-drug testing advocates like Crabtree, executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia, say drug testing high school students poses plenty of pitfalls that area educators should consider.

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Thanks for publishing the thoughtful letter "Drug war only compounds problem" on July 26.

If all types of recreational drugs were re-legalized and sold in regulated, controlled and taxed business establishments for pennies per dose, our overall crime rate would decline dramatically, and our public safety would increase substantially.

And, I believe that our overall hard drug usage rates would decline substantially. That's because drug dealers as we know them today would disappear for economic reasons.

The first time almost all drug users use a particular drug, they don't buy it; either a friend or drug dealer gives it to them.

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CHARLESTON -- "Pocket parolees," inmates left behind prison bars for various reasons after ordered released, potentially could cost West Virginia more than $2 million annually, lawmakers learned Monday.

Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein acknowledged, when quizzed Monday by Sen. Shirley Love, D-Fayette, that a major problem has been the failure to provide the parole board with a home plan when an inmate becomes eligible for discharge.

Rubenstein said a new policy has been imposed mandating that inmates come equipped with a home plan before a parole board considers releasing them.

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Zero tolerance is part of the problem. Illegal drug users are often reluctant to seek medical attention in the event of an overdose for fear of being charged with a crime. Attempting to save the life of a friend could result in a murder charge. Overzealous drug war enforcement results in easily preventable deaths.

Rehabilitation also is confounded. I think it's safe to say that turnout at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings would be rather low if alcoholism were a crime pursued with zero tolerance zeal. Eliminating the penalties associated with illicit drug use would encourage the type of honest discussion necessary to facilitate rehabilitation and save lives.

Robert Sharpe Policy analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC

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An effort to hold dealers accountable when the illicit drugs they peddle contributes to a death was on display this week in a Cabell County case.

Michelle Georgette Byars appeared in federal court this week, accused of distributing heroin leading to death. A grand jury charged her with the crime in connection with the death of her ex-husband, Patrick L. Byars, who died Sept. 23, 2007.

Patrick Byars' death was among 12 deaths in Cabell County that authorities have linked to heroin since April 2007. Ten of the deaths had occurred in a few-month period starting last September.

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha County school board members will seek public comment before voting on a tougher drug policy that would apply to nearly all school system employees and include random testing.

"We want to be careful to do this one like we do every other one," said board member Pete Thaw. "If we fall, let's fall on merits, not technicalities."

The board had unanimously passed a weaker version of the drug-testing policy earlier this year.

It calls for all school system job candidates to be subject to pre-employment testing and all employees to be subject to tests for cause, when substances turn up missing, when fitness is an issue and when those on leave return to duty.

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Huntington officials and West Virginia State Police continue to investigate.

HUNTINGTON -- Huntington Police say the HPD Drug Unit, DEA, and West Virginia State Police were conducting a drug investigation in the 3100 block of Fifth Avenue Friday. During the investigation officers stopped a 2008 Chevy Trail Blazer driven by Christopher Lee Ratliff of Scott Depot.

Police were trying to detain Ratliff when he swallowed a baggy containing suspected heroine. Ratliff immediately suffered medical distress. Upon arrival, EMS rendered aid and transported Ratliff to St. Mary's Hospital. Ratliff died a short time after his arrival.

The body will be taken to the State Medical Examiner's Office. The autopsy will include toxicology testing.

Officials are continuing to investigate.

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HUNTINGTON -- A Scott Depot man died Friday night after ingesting what was suspected to be heroin during a traffic stop.

Christopher Lee Ratliff, 32, died at St. Mary's Medical Center Friday night, after he swallowed the substance while Huntington Police were in the process of arresting him, according to a release from the Huntington Police Department.

Investigators with the HPD Drug Unit, Drug Enforcement Administration and the West Virginia State Police were conducting a drug investigation in the 3100 block of 5th Avenue when they stopped a 2008 Chevy Trail Blazer occupied by Ratliff. Officers were attempting to detain him when he ingested a package of suspected heroin and immediately suffered medical distress.

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