SAY NO TO SUSPICIONLESS DRUG TESTS

Marshfield latest to consider random tests.

Marshfield High School is considering joining the small but growing number
of schools who teach one thing in their social studies class and quite
another in their school board policies. The board could vote next month to
require random drug testing of any student involved in an extracurricular
activity. It is a policy that, at is very core, says: You've signed up for
band. Therefore, you are suspicious.

It goes completely counter to the philosophy inherent in the Bill of
Rights' Fourth Amendment: The government should have some basis for
suspicion before searching an American citizen.

Sadly, the Supreme Court ignored the plain words of the Fourth Amendment.
In a 5-4 ruling last year, it said public school officials could require
students in extracurricular activities to be subjected to random drug
tests. It is a ruling that history will judge among the court's worst.

But school districts, which should know better, haven't been able to resist
the invitation. Carl Junction High School, among the first in Missouri to
start testing athletes when the court opened that door, quickly added all
activities this year.

It has tested hundreds of students across the years. Almost all come back
negative. Is it really worth the money and the mockery of basic American
principles for the few positive results?

We don't believe so. Education budgets are under siege; random and largely
fruitless drug tests hardly rise to the level of a top priority. And at a
time when civil liberties are being questioned across the country, schools
should be one place where they are honored.

If that's not enough, consider a few practical matters.

Studies have shown that students involved in extracurricular activities,
whether athletics, music or the Science Olympiad, are far less likely to
try or use drugs than other students. Random drug testing targets the
students who already are most likely to post negative results.

Urine tests target illegal drugs. They can't identify students who abuse
alcohol or prescription drugs. If the point is to catch and help students
making destructive decisions, these tests skip right over the substances
most likely to be abused. If the point is to give students a reason to say
no, the tests fail on the same account.

Schools originally turned to random drug testing because administrators
feared lawsuits if they asked students who raised suspicions of abuse to
take a test. Instead, they have chosen to cast suspicion on everyone - and
hope the number comes up for those they really do want to test. It is a
goofy way to solve a limited problem.

Random drug tests give the appearance of getting tough on drug abuse
without actually accomplishing anything. They turn civics classes into an
exercise in hypocrisy. Random drug tests should be jettisoned, not
expanded. We urge Marshfield to just say no.