OCEAN CITY MARYLAND MAY GO TO BAT FOR DRUG TESTING

OCEAN CITY- Elected officials here could be hunkering down to oppose a
demand by the American Civil Liberties Union that the town change its drug
testing policy for prospective employees.

That possibility arose this week in response to an April 8 letter from ACLU
attorney Deborah Jeon asking officials to end the city's 10-year policy of
requiring job applicants to submit to drug testing.

In the letter to Mayor Jim Mathias, Jeon told elected officials about
Chandler vs. Miller, a two-year-old U.S. Supreme Court decision in which the
court struck down a Georgia statute requiring those in public office to
undergo drug testing as a precondition of employment. Jeon also warned
officials that "the ACLU is willing to take whatever action is necessary to
address the problem," but said she hoped legal action would not be
necessary.

In a letter responding to the ACLU's demand that the town end a similar
practice, Town Solicitor Guy Ayres told Jeon that officials here plan to
review the policy, but set no timetable for doing so and made no commitment
to change.

Asked when the council would address the issue more fully, Councilman Glenn
Steckman indicated discussion of he subject might be at an end.

"I don't know if we're going to have any more response to it," Steckman said
Tuesday. "I don't know if our drug testing policy is incorrect. I basically
support it .... I think the town should be able to test just like the
private sector. If the private sector is allowed to do it, why not the
public sector?"

"That's easy," said Dwight Sullivan, managing counsel for he ACLU's
Baltimore office. "Because the U.S. Constitution applies to governments. It
does not apply to private businesses."

While Steckman made clear his comments were his own and he was not speaking
for the elected body, his words closely resemble those of Mathias, who
indicated last month he too favors the current policy.

Mathias has said he is concerned that employees under the influence of drugs
or alcohol could put the town at risk if they come into contact with the
general public,

Although the Supreme Court did not completely rule out drug testing for all
employees, in Chandler vs. Miller the justices said governments seeking to
maintain such an all-encompassing policy would have to show a history of
unusually high substance abuse amongst its employee population, something
the town cannot do, Ayres said.