A DILEMMA OVER DRUG TESTING

A vigorous community debate has been joined in Whitefish over drug
and alcohol use by students and what should be done about it.

At the heart of the discussions is a proposal that, if approved by
the Whitefish School Board, would require urinalysis testing of all
students participating in extracurricular activities. These students
also would have to submit to random drug testing throughout the season.

That possibility has proven both emotional and controversial,
drawing praise and criticism from parents, counselors and other
Whitefish citizens.

That Whitefish High School has a drug problem apparently is not in doubt.

Drug- and alcohol-related infractions are double what they were last
year at the school.

According to one estimate, one-third of Whitefish High School
students had used marijuana in the 30 days prior to a survey. That's
13 percent above the state average and "way too many," according to
the director of Whitefish CARE.

Those are the kinds of numbers that have raised alarms and prompted
the push for drug testing.

Beyond the suggestion for mandatory testing, other alternatives have
been proposed, including suspicion-based testing or voluntary random testing.

The more Whitefish delves into the issue, the more questions arise:
Whether testing should be voluntary or mandatory, whether more than
just students in extracurricular activities should be tested,
whether testing really works, and on and on.

It also raises a whole host of legal obstacles and considerations.
Privacy rights, civil liberties, personal freedom and equal
treatment are all part of the mix.

Some people even question whether the schools, rather than parents,
should even be involved to this extent in policing drug use.

And an underlying premise of the drug-testing plan is that it must
be paired with treatment and education to truly be effective.

Obviously, this is a challenge with no easy solutions.

The first step in addressing the problem is a community dialogue.

And judging from the hundreds of people attending community meetings
on the issue (and the expected turnout when the school board takes
up the issue again on May 13), that dialogue is well under way.

One comment made at a recent school board meeting perhaps
encapsulates the situation: If it's decided not to do drug testing,
that's fine -- but something has to be done to address the drug
situation in Whitefish.