OSCEOLA PLANS TO DRUG TEST ITS ATHLETES

Osceola County students with hoop dreams need drug-free blood streams.

Members of the Osceola County School Board voted 4-1 Tuesday to allow
random drug tests of high school student athletes.

With the measure's approval, Osceola County becomes the third county in
Florida to have such a policy. The Manatee and Santa Rosa school districts
already allow drug testing.

Osceola board member Donna M. Hart said she opposed the policy because it
violates students' constitutional rights.

"I truly believe in the Fourth Amendment," Hart said.

High school principals will be allowed to test student athletes randomly
for drugs and alcohol and suspend them from their teams if results are
positive.

Critics say the policy unfairly targets athletes over participants in other
extracurricular activities.

"One-third of our students are involved in athletics. How long before we
get to the other two-thirds?" asked teacher Steven Hughes.

Fewer than 10 percent of the nation's 15,000 school districts have similar
policies, according to the National School Boards Association.

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A Full Tank:Ocala authorities searching a flatbed truck carrying three cars
found $52,000 hidden in the gas tank of one of the vehicles.

A deputy spotted the truck speeding north on Interstate 75 before 8 p.m.
Sunday, shortly after investigators received a tip that a tractor-trailer
was coming through with drugs inside.

Deputy Mark Jones said the driver, Francisco Juarez, 38, of Dade City, told
him he knew only the first names of his two passengers and that his
destination was ``somewhere in Texas.''

A drug dog reacted to what deputies believe was the odor of drugs.

During a search of one vehicle, the deputies discovered the back seat area
had been tampered with.

When they checked the gas tank, the deputies found $52,000 in cash in
several vacuum-packed plastic bags, floating in gasoline.

Juarez and his passengers said they knew nothing about it, so the cash will
remain confiscated until someone claims it.