SOME SAY DRUG-TEST RULING WILL MAKE SCHOOLS SAFER

Others Call The Policy 'A Waste Of Money And Counter-Productive'

Drug abuse is so prevalent in the USA that school officials and health
experts Thursday applauded a Supreme Court ruling saying public middle and
high schools can require drug tests for students in extracurricular
activities.

''America's high schools are riddled with drugs, and I think this is a
legitimate thing to do,'' says Joseph Califano, president of the Center on
Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in New York City.
However, he stressed that educators not use this authority ''in a bad way.''
And, he says once a student is found to use drugs, schools should be
required to provide counseling and treatment.

''Most kids buy drugs at schools and from classmates,'' says Califano, who
was secretary of Health, Education and Welfare in the Carter administration.
He provided statistics for the justices' research.

''We've got to make our schools safe for kids and this will help. Just the
possibility of a random test gives thousands of high school students a
reason to say 'No.' ''

Robbie Ader, 18, of Mount Vernon, Mo., agrees, and says she especially
favors testing for athletes. ''It's not fair if (athletes) take drugs that
will alter their state of mind. It can affect the safety of the athletes
themselves and others on the field too. As far as clubs, the standard should
be 'no drugs.' If you are going to commit to that club, you need to be
upholding that standard,'' says Ader, a board member of the National
Association of Student Councils.

The high court ruled on a program in Tecumseh, Okla., that required students
to submit to random urinalysis to take part in after-school activities. Such
testing is a ''reasonable means'' to prevent and detect drug use, it said.

The ruling follows one in 1995, when the court specifically allowed urine
testing of student athletes. Since that ruling, school officials estimate
only 5% of schools began testing athletes.

''It's been legal to drug-test athletes, yet most schools don't do it,''
says Graham Boyd of the American Civil Liberties Union. ''Now that it's
legal to test more broadly, I still don't think schools will do it because
it remains expensive and ineffective.'' The cost is about $15 per test per
student, he says, and tests sometimes get false positives.

Boyd says a Dublin, Ohio, school district this week decided to end its
drug-testing program for athletes because officials realized it was ''a
waste of money and counter-productive.''

The Dublin board said the money saved by scrapping the program will pay for
a full-time drug-and-alcohol counselor in the middle schools. They already
have two counselors in the high schools. Paul Houston of the American
Association of School Administrators says the ruling ''fits our general
concerns about the rights of local school boards and school districts to
create their own ways of doing business, especially oversight of safety.''

But Lindsay Earls, 19, who challenged her school's drug-testing policy, said
many students quit the groups in protest. ''I wasn't the only kid who didn't
like it,'' she said. ''I really don't see how it's helping anyone at all.''
She is a student at Dartmouth College. Although Earls was the lead plaintiff
in the case, she complied with the drug testing so she could continue with
her extracurricular activities.

Bryan Hall, 18, of Galesville, Md., says, ''It's a bad decision. You
shouldn't be penalized for wanting to be involved in school activities and
trying to make a difference.''

''Students might put up a fight but there's not much you can do at this
point,'' says Hall, a board member of the National Association of Student
Councils.