Pubdate: Wed, 21 May 2003 Source: Fayetteville Observer (NC) Copyright: 2003 Fayetteville Observer Contact: http://www.fayettevillenc.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/150 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) ANOTHER KIND OF TEST Drugs, Athletes and Self-Defeating Behavior It's a praiseworthy goal, but drug prevention is unlikely to be enough of a reason to convince courts that Cumberland County schools should carry out a program of random drug testing for athletes. These are players, not parolees. A committee is looking at the idea, but it appears filled with legal and constitutional potholes. If there is clear evidence that a student is using illegal drugs, then there are procedures that can lead to drug tests and the appropriate disciplinary action. But there are few points to be gained by assuming a player has a drug problem just for having won a spot on a team. Still, it's understood why coaches and teachers want to adopt a random drug testing policy. Schools hope to do something - almost anything - to keep the drug culture off their campuses. A separate problem for athletes, and a serious one, is health. Cocaine has been known to worsen heart irregularities during strenuous exercise. Ecstasy is a drug that raises body temperature, which can be life-threatening when activity during a game or practice pushes the temperature even higher. Unhealthy students - and this includes "recreational" drug users - shouldn't participate in school athletics. Drug testing programs in a few school systems in North Carolina single out athletes and have shown some success with prevention. But the final decision whether these programs can continue after constitutional challenges will be up to the courts. Individuals make decisions that are best dealt with one-on-one. Athletes aren't the only role models on a campus and they aren't the only students tempted to use drugs. An athlete buying cocaine or using steroids is a drug user at risk; an honor student regularly using amphetamines to stay awake to study is at risk; art, math or history students who arrive at school with hangovers every Monday morning are at risk; a dancer who burns out on Ecstasy is a drug user, too. A better game plan would be for Cumberland County teachers and coaches to tackle the larger issue, which is how to tailor drug-prevention messages to reach different groups of students effectively. Then ask for a test for drugs only when there is "probable cause," under carefully defined circumstances. Athletes are not, by definition, a criminal class. They shouldn't be treated like it. A school that wouldn't think of ordering random drug testing for the class president without cause shouldn't test the quarterback "just because." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake