GAME PLAN AGAINST DRUGS

Will Drug Testing Work For Marion Athletes, Other Students?

OCALA - The Marion County school system's proposed drug policy, which
will involve screening hundreds of students and cost thousands of
dollars, may not work and could even backfire, according to studies
and some schools that have attempted the practice.

By randomly testing athletes and eventually all students in after-
school programs, the district may be targeting the wrong students and
discourage some from participating in the very activities that keep
them away from drugs, critics say.

They say the school system may be wasting money on a unproven
method.

"The only national research shows that it just doesn't have an impact
on drug use," said Judy Appel, acting director of legal affairs for
the nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance.

But Superintendent of Schools Jim Yancey, who proposed the policy
earlier this year, believes the program will discourage students from
trying drugs and help those who have already started. By testing
athletes and others serving as role models within schools, he said the
initiative should also influence those not subject to testing.

"We just feel like we need to test (for drugs) for their physical
well-being and their mental well-being," Yancey said. "It's really
about getting them off a lifestyle that's only going to lead to
failure, doom, losing jobs and everything else."

DRUG TESTING 101 Only about 5 percent of the nation's schools test
athletes for drugs. Only about 2 percent test students in
extracurricular activities.

But schools are being encouraged to pursue testing. In 2002, the U.S.
Supreme Court upheld testing of students in extracurricular
activities. Members of Congress, as well as Florida lawmakers, have
floated bills requiring schools to test all students in after-school
activities.

President George W. Bush has also supported the measure, offering $23
million for student drug testing.

During a Marion County School Board workshop in March, Yancey proposed
drug testing for athletes after reviewing surveys that showed
increases in student drug use, and having discussions with concerned
coaches.

Under the policy, which is set to be considered by School Board
members on July 13, the district would randomly test one-quarter of
its 4,000 student athletes each year. The urine test, administered by
an outside company, would test for marijuana, cocaine and other
illegal drugs, but would not screen for alcohol or steroids.

Athletes testing positive would miss one or two games and be required
to complete counseling. Consequences would be harsher for those who
test positive a second time.

Beginning in the 2005-06 school year, the policy would extend to all
high school students in extracurricular activities. Students enrolling
in a vocational high school planned for the existing Forest High
School campus could also be subject to drug screenings.

The program, which would eventually encompass about 6,000 students,
could cost as much as $60,000 to $70,000 a year. The district plans
initially plans to use operating funds and later to pursue federal
grants to subsidize the program, Yancey said.

But studies show that effective drug-testing programs can be costly,
and there is no guarantee they will work.

In the largest study to date, University of Michigan researchers
looked at drug-testing data from 722 middle and high school students
between 1998 and 2001. They concluded that drug testing did not deter
students from using drugs.

For instance, in the 12th grade, 36 percent of those in schools that
did not test reported having used marijuana in the 12 months prior to
the survey, compared to 37 percent in schools that used testing.

Following the study, researchers questioned whether drug testing was a
wise investment for schools pressed for funds.

"I have no doubt that one could design a drug-testing program that
could deter teen drug use, but at what monetary cost and at what cost
in terms of intrusion into the privacy of our young people?" wrote
Lloyd Johnston, one of the researchers on the project.

On the other hand, a one-year study by researchers at Oregon Health &
Sciences University found that students at one high school using drug
testing were nearly four times less likely to use drugs than those at
a similar school not using tests. Of the 135 student athletes
subjected to random testing at Wahtonka High School, only 5.3 percent
reported using illicit drugs by the end of the school year versus 19.4
percent at Warrenton High, the school not using drug testing.

A closer look shows that the Wahtonka program involved testing roughly
50 percent of students - or twice as many as Marion schools plan test
- - and screening for a wider range of substances, including alcohol and
steroids.

The Drug Policy Alliance, a critic of drug testing, argues that
students would be better served through counseling and other
assistance programs rather than a method that creates unnecessary pressure.

The national organization works "to broaden the public debate on drug
policy and to promote realistic alternatives to the war on drugs based
on science, compassion, health and human rights," according to its Web
site.

Alliance officials say testing students in after-school activities can
have an adverse effect.

"It would actually deflect them from the very activities that would
most help them reduce drug use," Appel said.

The Guymon school district, in Oklahoma's panhandle, dropped its drug-
testing program after seeing a decline in the number of students
participating in extracurricular activities.

"We really want kids to go out for extracurricular activities," said
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Mike
Parkhurst. "The drug testing may have caused kids that need us to not
have us."

Of the 3,000 to 4,000 students tested under the program, only three or
four tested positive for drugs, Parkhurst said. He said district
officials, though still considering a revised drug-testing plan for
the future, used money saved from the program to hire a school
resource officer.

Several Marion County high school students involved in after-school
programs also were critical of the proposed drug testing.

"Even though drug testing might be a hassle, I would support it if it
really made a difference," said Michelle Fang, a Vanguard High School
student enrolled in a handful of after-school activities. "I think
most students involved with drugs, however, are probably not the types
to join clubs and become involved with the school. Drug testing may
cause students to feel harassed, like suspects for a crime."

STARTING AT THE TOP Not all drug-testing stories end badly. Polk
County school officials say they saw a significant reduction in drug
use when one high school tested student athletes between 1996 and
2000. After the program was stopped for lack of funding, drug-use
rates went up, said the district manager of Safe & Drug Free Schools,
Audrey Kelley- Fritz.

The Polk district, which reinstated the program last spring, plans to
expand it to all high schools this fall through the help of a $236,000
federal grant.

"I feel it's worth finding out if it works," Kelley-Fritz said. "If it
doesn't work, I think we should scrap it. But by influencing athletes,
the largest sector, we can influence everyone."

Marion County School Board members expressed similar views about the
program.

"Let's begin at the right place," said board Chairman Kurt Kelly,
whose daughter participates in high school athletics. "Let's go with
the leaders. We can shoot holes in any good plan - and this is a good
plan."

During an interview Friday, Yancey said he believes testing athletes
and those in extracurricular activities will prevent students from
experimenting with drugs and offer assistance to those using them.
Echoing sentiments of other educators, he said the groups would assist
other students in taking the right path.

"They're the leaders; let's clean them up first," he said. "They're
the leaders of the school, and kids want to hang out with them."

Though unfamiliar with the University of Michigan study, Yancey said
the project's findings would not influence his decision.

"I guess I'm going to just make the effort. I just can't see sitting
by and doing nothing," he explained. "If some study somewhere says it
doesn't work and it's a waste of time, then we're going waste some
time and money if that's what people are going to conclude. I
personally believe - and I think our School Board believes and our
principals and coaches believe - it will make a difference.

If it helps any of the kids get off of (drugs), I think it's
accomplished a great thing. It's worth $40,000 for me to save one kid."

Yancey said he wasn't concerned about discouraging students from
participating in extracurricular activities and said changes in
enrollment would only suggest the need for stronger drug-prevention
measures.

To gauge the program's success, district officials would use
previously completed surveys. Though the program would likely remain
intact, unpromising results could affect whether testing is expanded
beyond athletes, Yancey said.

Unable to test all students because of legal restrictions, the
district would rely on existing prevention programs and other methods
to reach at-risk students who do not participate in after-school activities.

"Are we going to catch every one of them? No," Yancey said. "But we're
going to catch some, and every kid we save and keep from becoming a
regular user, we think is worth the effort."

DRUG TESTING IN MARION SCHOOLS

A new drug-testing policy would subject Marion County student athletes to
random testing this August. The urine test, conducted by an independent
company, would screen for marijuana, cocaine, barbiturates and other illegal
drugs. It would not test for alcohol or steroids.

A draft of the policy says students testing positive for drugs would
be suspended for seven days - or the equivalent of one to two athletic
games. They would be required to complete a counseling program and
undergo regular testing throughout their high school career. Students
testing positive a second time would be suspended from all sports
programs for one year and referred to a drug-treatment center.

Students refusing to submit to testing would be banned from athletics
for one year.

Beginning August 2005, the policy would extend to all high school
students who participate in extracurricular activities, including
band, cheerleading and after school clubs. The School Board is
scheduled to vote on the policy July 13.

Source: Marion County School District