LAWMAKERS LOOK AT STUDENT DRUG TESTING BY CHUCK ERVIN WORLD CAPITOL

OKLAHOMA CITY - Lawmakers continued to wrestle Thursday with the issue of
drug testing for Oklahoma students.

A bill authorizing drug testing for all students who are involved in
athletics and other extracurricular activities failed to pass during the
last legislative session. But lawmakers plan to revisit the issue when they
reconvene next February.

A joint legislative task force studying the issue heard from David G.
Evans, a New Jersey man who is chairman of the Drug-Free Schools Coalition.

Evans told members of the task force at their Thursday meeting that the
coalition now is in 10 to 15 states and is rapidly expanding.

"Drug testing by itself is not adequate," Evans said.

He said community and parental involvement in programs is essential to
their success.

The purpose of such programs, he said, shouldn't be to punish students but
to get them into counseling and treatment programs.

He said his daughter's 2,000- student New Jersey high school is not a
problem school and has a fairly typical incidence of drug use. But he said
some 90 students have tested positive for various drugs, including
marijuana, heroin and cocaine.

The school currently tests athletes and is expanding the testing program to
include students in other extracurricular activities. Also under
consideration is testing of students who have school parking permits.

Evans said the federal courts have ruled that entire student bodies may not
be tested. However, the courts have upheld ran dom testing of athletes on
the grounds of safety and because participation in sports is voluntary,
Evans said.

He said testing students who have parking permits also is justifiable
because of the safety issue.

Sen. Bernest Cain, D-Oklahoma City, said he is concerned about what will
happen to students who do test positive for drug use.

"It might brand a kid for life," Cain said. "It might be worse than a kid
smoking a joint.

"There are a ton of people -- from the president on down -- who have smoked
marijuana that turned out to be pretty good people," he said.

Cain added that he believes school authorities would use positive drug
tests as an excuse to expel students.

Evans said programs to deter students from using drugs work only if there
are consequences.

But he said most students who test positive for drugs are removed from
school only briefly and can return when they agree to go into counseling
and treatment or other prescribed programs.

"I have never said you should kick kids out of school," he said.

Evans said a state law is necessary in order to reinforce a school's legal
position and to protect administrators from lawsuits.

A few school districts in Oklahoma, including Jenks, already conduct drug
tests. Although the state has no law authorizing such tests, the districts
administering them rely on out-of-state court rulings that have upheld drug
tests.

Chuck Ervin, World Capitol Bureau chief, can be reached at (405) 528-2465
or via e-mail at chuck.ervin@tulsaworld.com.