DRUG TESTING - FUNDING, SUPPORT CRITICAL

The Pitt County Board of Education's support for random drug testing
of student athletes has potential for creating more awareness and
accountability. But the program could meet cost and sustainability
challenges at a time when adequately funding public schools is
especially difficult. The drug-testing measure follows a pilot
program that started last year at D. H. Conley High School. Principal
Michael Lutz has called the program a valuable deterrent that helps
students fight off peer pressure. The school board's policy requires
that a minimum of one round of random testing be conducted for
participants in each school sport with at least 10 percent of
athletes being tested. The cost of the program must be borne by the
school or student and parent organizations.

The Associated Press recently reported that testing of high school
athletes for steroid use in New Jersey, Florida, Texas and Illinois
since 2006 resulted in only 20 positive test results out of 30,799.
The AP contrasted that finding with 2007 and '08 surveys, conducted
by the University of Michigan, which found that 2.2 percent of
seniors said they had tried steroids at least once.

Proponents of testing point to the low number of positive results ­
none were recorded in a year of testing at D.H. Conley ­ as proof of
an effective deterrent. Others point to the same statistic to argue
that low results from testing programs do not justify the expense.

The funding method chosen for Pitt County relies on strong support
from parents and boosters. That could be a problem for schools with a
lower level of financial support in those areas.

Every school deserves to have the same level of drug-prevention
programs in place, and every school athlete deserves to benefit from
the culture of accountability those programs can produce.

At a time when a light of public scrutiny is illuminating drug use
among professional athletes ­ particularly performance-enhancing
drugs ­ expanding efforts to prevent young athletes from emulating
that illegal and harmful behavior is necessary. The school board is
right to approve an official drug-testing policy. The board's
guidelines for funding, implementing and sustaining that policy may
prove challenging.