Pubdate: Sun, 09 Sep 2012
Source: Register-Guard, The (OR)
Copyright: 2012 The Register-Guard
Contact: http://www.registerguard.com/web/opinion/#contribute-a-letter
Website: http://www.registerguard.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/362

PUT NEW DRUG TESTS ON HOLD

UO Officials Should Take a More Deliberate Approach

The University of Oregon has decided to begin random drug testing of 
student-athletes before a scheduled campus hearing next month -- and 
before the administration consults with the University Senate, as 
required by the university's constitution and other campus policies.

It's an unwise decision for a number of reasons, foremost of which is 
the opposition such a precipitous move may provoke among students and 
faculty. The decision by UO officials to bypass established 
university procedures and put in place a random testing program also 
raises the question of whether their primary aim is promoting 
student-athletes' health and well-being -- or protecting the 
reputation of the university and its high-flying athletic program.

UO officials were taken aback by an ESPN report last April that 
detailed a culture of pot-smoking among Oregon football players. That 
report came on the heels of a nationally publicized 2011 incident in 
which UO football player Cliff Harris told an Oregon State Police 
trooper during a traffic stop that he and others had smoked pot, 
after the trooper asked about the smell. Harris' response -- "We 
smoked it all" -- became a national punch-line, and a source of 
embarrassment to UO officials.

There is no question that the UO has the right to conduct random drug 
testing under state and federal law. Any doubts about the authority 
of school officials to require athletes to submit to drug testing as 
a prerequisite to participation in sports were resolved by a 1995 
U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving the Vernonia School District in Oregon.

But the university's rush to put random drug testing into place 
ignores serious questions about the effectiveness of such programs. 
As previously noted in this space, a study by researchers at Oregon 
Health & Science University last year found that a clinical trial of 
random drug and alcohol testing in schools made little or no 
difference in athletes' drug and alcohol usage.

Interestingly, many athletes at schools with random testing programs 
perceived their school authorities as being less opposed to drug use, 
perhaps partly because testing programs became a substitute for other 
efforts to combat substance abuse.

There are other concerns about random testing, including the 
possibility that some athletes may shun marijuana, a drug that has a 
high probability of showing up in drug tests for an extended period 
of time after usage, and opt for other more harmful drugs that 
metabolize more quickly and are not as easily detected.

It's possible that UO officials have worked their way through these 
and other difficult issues. It's even possible that they have reached 
out to experts at OHSU and elsewhere to ensure that the UO has 
crafted the most effective, state-of-the-art random testing program possible.

But there's no way of knowing whether that's the case, because 
university officials chose to impose a new random testing program 
without consulting faculty, students or the UO Senate.

University officials justify their decision by saying participating 
in collegiate sports while on illegal drugs creates a "serious risk" 
of injury. That's probably true. But that risk didn't suddenly arise 
this past week -- it's been present for as long as student-athletes 
have been taking illegal drugs.

UO officials had another possible course of action, one they could 
still take. They could put the new random testing program on hold and 
more rigorously apply the UO's current policy of testing with cause, 
which responds to signs of drug abuse among athletes with counseling, 
followed by a series of sanctions.

That would allow the UO to take a more thoughtful, methodical -- and 
potentially more effective -- approach to protecting student-athletes 
from illicit drugs.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom