WHEN A POSITIVE IS A NEGATIVE

R.J. Cobb went to a fair share of house parties while he was on the
Citrus High School football team.

A few times, he said, he watched as some teammates succumbed to
pressure from friends to drink. He wondered whether they would have
pounded as many beers if there had been a good excuse to say no.

"I did occasionally have a drink," said Cobb, who graduated in 2005.
"But I never felt pressured. You could tell, though, that some people
would just do it to fit in."

School officials say the planned random drug testing program for
athletes would give students an out.

Beginning this spring, if approved, high school students who test
positive for drugs or alcohol will miss two contests; if there is a
second positive test, they won't be allowed to participate in sports
for a calendar year.

Superintendent Sandra "Sam" Himmel said randomly testing athletes
will keep some from using drugs or alcohol, especially in social settings.

"They can now say, 'The big ol' woman on the hill may test me
tomorrow,' " and decline an invitation to drink or smoke marijuana,
Himmel said.

Citrus is pursuing a four-year, $333,000 federal grant to randomly
test all high school athletes for a wide range of drugs, including
marijuana, hallucinogens, steroids and alcohol. School officials say
the risk of drug use is particularly high among Citrus youths.

The testing could start as early as next semester if a majority on
the School Board support the idea when it up for a vote in January.
Parents and students are also being asked to weigh in during a public
forum that same month. Details of that forum haven't been determined yet.

Although a growing number of school districts nationwide are
requiring athletes to pass drug screenings as a condition to
participate in sports and extracurricular activities, the idea has
come under heavy criticism by researchers and civil liberties groups
that say its ineffective and intrusive.

A federally funded 2003 study by the University of Michigan found
that student drug use did not decrease in schools where students were
being randomly tested.

In fact, drug testing may have the opposite effect, according to a
national grass roots organization in Washington, D.C., called
Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

"We think it makes existing drug problems worse," said Tom Angell,
the group's campaign director. "Requiring students to submit a urine
sample definitely deters them from participating in extracurricular
activities, which are supposed to help keep them away from drugs."

That claim is not based on scientific research, but enough anecdotal
data exists to support it, he said.

In Citrus, school administrators and a majority on the School Board
seem poised to support the program, which they're calling "Taking A
Proactive Stance." The program is modeled after a similar one in Marion County.

Getting local high school athletes to talk openly and candidly about
the subject has been a challenge. A group of Citrus High football
players declined to be interviewed for this article Friday, saying
coaches as a general rule bar them from talking to reporters without
a coach being present.

But in interviews with a half dozen former Citrus County high school
athletes, all voiced support for the idea.

Dane Moore is a 2005 graduate of Citrus High, where he was a star
athlete. He is now a freshman at Anderson (Ind.) University, where he
plays receiver on the football team. The school routinely screens
players, including Moore, for illegal drugs.

"What that does is make everybody stay clean," Moore said. "You don't
want to be the one who took something and then test positive that
month. It always makes you think about the choices you make."

Sarah Wilkins, a 2005 graduate of Crystal River High, also supports
random testing, but she disagrees that it gives athletes an out.

"I really didn't think that the whole drug scene was that big in
Citrus County," said Wilkins, who played on the softball and
volleyball teams. "I went to parties where there were some drugs, but
there was no one ever saying, 'You should do this or do that.' There
was never actual peer pressure."

Wilkins, now a freshman at Florida State University, said she favors
the testing because it can create an equal playing field for high
school athletes. Although the use of steroids never was never a hot
topic among players, Wilkins said she sometimes wondered about "these
really big girls" from visiting schools.

She doesn't think the testing will discourage participation.

"You play sports because you enjoy sports, and you love sports," she
said. "If you have to pee into a cup, that's a sacrifice that you
should be willing to make."

Here is how the drug testing would work at the three Citrus high schools:

Athletic rosters with every player's name would be forwarded to First
Lab, a drug testing laboratory in Pennsylvania. The lab will assign
numbers to every student name. Before a drug screening, the lab would
run those numbers (no names) through a system that would randomly
select a group for the testing.

Jonny Bishop, who will oversee the program for the district, will
match the numbers with students' names and notify administrators at a
high school the morning before the testing. Those students would be
pulled from their class and taken to a comfortable place such as the
locker rooms, where the students will be asked for a urine sample.

A school official of the same gender will keep a close watch on the
student along with the lab technician assigned to administer the tests.

What happens if a student says he cannot give a urine sample?

"Too bad. He stays till he does," Himmel said. "They produce or they
don't play."

The district has plans to guard against tampering. Bishop has already
done research showing various contraptions used by students to cheat
the drug tests. One such instrument is the Whizzinator, a prosthetic
penis that keeps urine at a specified temperature.

School officials said the individual tests won't rob students of much
class time, unless some don't want to cooperate. They said only the
students' parents and a school administrator will know which students
have been chosen for a screening.

School officials say they are confident the lab work will be complete
and accurate. The district will learn only whether a student tests
positive or negative. Parents can ask the lab for more detailed
information, including what drug and how much of that drug was found
in the student.

If a student fails a screening the first time, he or she will be
barred from the field or basketball court for two games. Those
students will have to complete a 12-week education and counseling
program at the Centers, which will be at no cost to the student.

But if the same student fails a second time, then that student will
be barred from playing the rest of the season and will have to seek
counseling at his or her own cost.

School officials are considering expanding the program to include
students in extracurricular activities, if the program is successful.

Random drug testing has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, which
ruled that the testing does not violate students' privacy rights.
However, the court's decision limits testing to student athletes and
those in competitive extracurricular activities.

Athletes who test positive for illegal drugs won't face suspension.
But the district's zero tolerance rules will apply to an athlete who
is caught using or selling drugs on campus. "Our goal is not to
punish kids," Bishop said of the random testing program. "It's to get
them help."

J.C. Livingston, who played basketball at Crystal River, said he
supports random testing but doesn't think it's fair to single out athletes.

The schools "should go after everyone," he said. "Just because I'm an
athlete doesn't mean I use steroids."

Livingston, who now plays basketball at the Florida Institute of
Technology, said the testing does seem to keep students from using
drugs. He has been randomly tested along with other players at FIT,
and it has kept the team in check.

"If you get caught, there is no playing for the rest of the year," he
said. "Those are just the rules that you have to go by. They're pretty tough."

Asked if her son's drug problems influenced her to push for random
drug testing in Citrus high schools, Himmel answered no. One of her
three sons has been arrested on drug charges several times.

"This policy has absolutely nothing to do with my personal
experience," Himmel said, noting that she would have "relished" the
program as a parent.

"I would be amazed if parents don't support this," she said.

When asked if she would support extending drug testing to teachers,
she said she would, but the teachers union would likely have to
agree. The district already randomly tests bus drivers for drugs and alcohol.

There are no immediate plans to extend the testing to the middle schools.

Himmel said she understands that some parents and students may oppose
the program, but she feels strongly that any privacy issues are
outweighed by safety concerns.

"It is my obligation to teach kids to make good choices," she said.

Cobb, the former Citrus High running back, said the testing could
keep a team together, but also potentially keep a student from making
bad choices that put his health at risk.

"I really think it is a good idea," he said. "There are a lot of bad
things that you are exposed to when you're in high school."