KUDOS FOR ADDING A FOURTH 'R'

My most hearty kudos go out this week to the Scott County school
system and Dr. Dallas Blankenship, as well as to Scott Countians
Against Drugs, for pursuing a program of random drug testing in our
county's schools. This is a tremendous positive step toward fighting
the drug problem that continues to plague society, and our schools in
particular.

Although the program is not in its final form, the things we are
hearing about it all strike me as proceeding in the right direction.
The program is being structured so that it is random and
non-discriminatory. A positive test does not mean there will be a
criminal prosecution, but it does mean that the student in question
will be given an opportunity to obtain help and get off drugs.
Possession will, of course, still be a criminal matter, as it should
be.

The idea of the testing program is to identify children who are into
drugs and therefore at risk for greater problems, and return them to
"clean," or drug-free, status. The program is still being developed in
terms of what treatment options will be available and how they will be
funded. School leaders recognize that if they go this route, i.e.,
instituting a testing program, they will concurrently need to provide
a solution in terms of drug counseling and treatment.

When I first read of the proposed program, my thoughts immediately
turned to former Scott County athletes Bud Mackey and Rick Jones, both
of whom have lost significant athletic and academic opportunities due
to involvement with illegal drugs. One can only wonder what a drug
testing program may have accomplished with these students, and many
others, who have had their youth stolen from them by the pernicious
drug trade which clearly does exist in Scott County.

It is a virtual certainty that some civil libertarians will object to
random drug testing as an "invasion of privacy" and/ or a "violation
of individual rights." These arguments are shortsighted and miss the
larger point. As a baseline proposition, one cannot forget that anyone
who has engaged in illegal drug use has, by definition, broken the law
and is thus already a criminal. When the choice is made to use illegal
drugs, certain so-called "rights" are, and should be, forfeited.

In other words, if a child remains "clean," he or she has little or
nothing about which to worry from random drug testing. There will no
doubt be some risk of false positive tests, but those exist in any
drug testing program and do not occur with sufficient frequency to
defeat the overall purpose and necessity of the testing. The mere
existence of testing in and of itself may be enough to keep some
percentage of Scott County students "clean."

Beyond that, again, the purpose of this testing program is not to be
punitive, but to identify children who are at risk and need help. I
cannot imagine that a parent who is attuned to the very real risks of
drugs would in any way object to their child being tested under a
random system. The help this will provide to parents in fighting the
encroachment of a drug problem is real and significant, and should not
be discounted.

Implementation of this program will be yet another portion of the
positive legacy being left by Superintendent Dallas Blankenship with
his impending retirement. Dr. Blankenship has been an effective and
visionary leader for our school system through a period of
unprecedented growth and change, not only in the physical plants of
the size and number of schools, but in the complexities which
challenge teachers and administrators in 21st century secondary
education. The school board has a tall order to fill Dr. Blankenship's
shoes.

Bottom line, sad as it may be, we live in a society where good
parenting and good educational administration demand more than the
good ol' "Three R's." In this day and age, a fourth "R" in the form of
random drug testing is not only the wise choice, but a necessity if we
are going to truly serve the needs of students in our school system.

David C. Trimble, a Georgetown resident, is an attorney. His column,
The Bottom Line, appears every Wednesday in the News-Graphic