RANDOM DRUG TESTING A BAD IDEA

The Tahoe Truckee Unified School District will consider a proposal tonight
which would subject student athletes to random drug testing.

The meeting will be held at the school district office in Truckee beginning
at 6:30 p.m. Last month, the school board first discussed the idea of drug
testing high school athletes citing the protection of the health of the
students in its reasoning.

A district-wide policy which would subject teen-age athletes to random
testing would be ineffective.

We would first like the school board to tell us whether or not there is a
serious drug problem at North Tahoe and Tahoe-Truckee high schools to
warrant such a drastic measure. Second, we would like to know what
preventive measures are being taken to combat this problem. And, if there
are such measures in place, are these ineffective?

Any presence of drugs in high school is a serious concern. However,
according to the Sept. 19 Sacramento Bee, the California Attorney General's
office released a study saying that overall drug and alcohol use in seventh,
ninth and 11th graders is down.

According to the biennial California Student Study, the use of marijuana,
inhalants, methamphetamine and psychedelics decreased or remained unchanged
across the board. (Although we are disturbed by the slight increase in the
use of cocaine and crack in these same age groups.)

While this study suggests progress is being made in the fight against drug
and alcohol use, we do not agree with the school district's consideration of
a policy to drug test athletes. It is not an effective solution to combating
drug use. It's no solution at all.

Teaching a child of any age that drug use is unhealthy begins with a
commitment - a commitment by school board members, by parents, by teachers,
by community residents - to establish a relationship with a child and
through that relationship demonstrate by example that drug use is
detrimental.

Monies to pay for drug testing would be better spent on teachers or on
mentoring programs where individuals make a commitment of their time and
themselves to our children. A fine example is North Tahoe High School
English teacher Dorothea Parada who spends countless hours with her students
on extracurricular activities such as plays and musicals. She has made a
personal commitment to her students - one her students will remember when
faced with tough decisions.

Children learn by example. Let us set the example which teaches them to stay
away from drugs.