POLK STUDENT ATHLETES MAY BE DRUG TESTED

Initiative, Receiving Presidential Support, Could Begin In Spring.

WASHINGTON -- Thousands of high school athletes in Polk County may be
required to take drug tests beginning this spring to detect alcohol,
marijuana, amphetamines and four other illegal drugs.

The Florida students are on the edge of a trend that President Bush put his
weight behind in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday -- a push that
increasingly means that signing up for baseball or golf means participating
in the war on drugs.

Bush called for an additional $23 million for student drug testing grants
in 2005. Those grants totaled $2 million in 2003 and the same amount is
expected this year. Polk County was one of eight recipients of grants
awarded in 2003 to districts that this spring will begin to generate data
and test practices for the rest of the nation.

"The aim here is not to punish children, but to send this message: We love
you, and we don't want to lose you," Bush said. The drug-testing proposal
was one of a handful of new domestic policy plans.

Edward Boos, supervisor of prevention, health and wellness for the Polk
County school district, was surprised.

"I was really happy to hear him say that because that carries some weight,"
Boos said. "Maybe that will be a plus in terms of people supporting it."

People on both sides of the debate said a mention in Bush's most prominent
speech of the year lends legitimacy to school drug testing and will
embolden supporters in districts that have been reluctant to proceed.

"We can change the face of the drug problem in America and for generations
to come by using this tool," John Walters, director of National Drug
Control Policy at the White House, said in an interview.

Federal officials aren't sure how many schools have drug-testing programs,
but estimates are as high as 2,500 schools that have voluntary or mandatory
testing, with local funding probably a major source.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 2002 expanded legal testing of athletes to
include students in other extracurricular activities, such as chess clubs.
Schools can't require random tests of students outside those programs.
Federal policy is aimed at combating use of alcohol and narcotics, not
steroids, although Bush implored professional athletes to set a better
example by not using performance enhancers.

The grants awarded to Polk County and seven other jurisdictions are meant
to provide dedicated funding over three years -$232,000 a year in Polk's
case. Researchers will study the programs to see if they reduce drug use
and how they should be structured.

Polk County conducted a pilot drug-testing program for athletes at George
Jenkins High School from 1996 through 2000. Surveys showed a precipitous
drop in drug use among those students until the program ended and drug use
rebounded.

While Bush's plan would expand the grant by 12-fold, that is only a
fraction of the money schools could tap for drug tests now.

In a little-noticed change to federal education policy, the No Child Left
Behind Act of 2002 for the first time allowed federal grants under the Safe
and Drug Free Schools and Communities program to be used for drug testing.
Schools are now free to use their portions of the money from the U.S.
Department of Education -- slated to be $441 million this year -- to test
students.

The American Civil Liberties Union, a leading critic and chief litigator in
drug-test lawsuits, argues the growing emphasis on testing threatens money
for drug prevention programs aimed at all students -- not just those who
must submit to testing if they want to play sports or join afterschool
activities.

Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, said the practice
also sends a message "that what you learn in civics class about the Bill of
Rights . . . may be true, but it apparently is not true for young people.

"I think it is a violation of fundamental principles."

Calvina Fay, executive director of the Drug Free America Foundation, based
in St. Petersburg dismisses complaints about students' rights. "There
aren't too many people around that would debate that children have a right
to use drugs," she said.

The Polk County School Board met Thursday to discuss a contract with the
local drug court office to conduct tests in 14 public high schools and one
private school. Boos hopes to begin the program in April if logistical
problems can be avoided.

Under a policy that is still being worked on, athletes who fail a drug test
would face a drug assessment but could return to sports if they follow
recommendations meant to keep them clean. Flunking a second test could
trigger a one-year suspension from athletics.

The county will randomly test 10 percent of its athletes four times each
season, or as many as 4,500 tests a year. Boos supports testing students in
non-athletic activities if more money becomes available.

Ginger Katz of Connecticut, whose 20-year-old son Ian died of a heroine
overdose in 1996, says this national push is overdue. She said Ian started
using drugs at 14, but he played high school sports and could have been
kept straight.

"I can't help but think that if there was student drug testing in Ian's
school, he might not have even started," said Katz, who founded the Courage
to Speak Foundation to help kids fight peer pressure to use drugs. "He
loved his sports."