MORE SCHOOLS OKAY DRUG TEST POLICIES

More schools across Mississippi are adopting policies requiring drug
testing for students who participate in extracurricular activities.

The McComb School Board agreed on such a policy a few weeks back, becoming
one of a handful of public school districts in Mississippi to embark upon
some form of mandatory drug testing.

Just this week there was a report from Southwest Mississippi Community
College that all student-athletes at the school near Summit will be
required to take drug tests next year. Also this week, the Petal School
District, near Hattiesburg, adopted a policy similar to McComb's.

While most people seem to support the new policies, there are some
questions, even among the supporters.

Here are a few and what we understand to be the answers:

Why test for drugs, either randomly or otherwise? The most obvious answer
is to curtail the use of illegal drugs which is a problem in every
community of much size whether everyone is willing to admit it or not.

Will drug testing stop drug abuse? Not completely, but the hope is that it
will curtail it. One theory holds that young people are subject to
tremendous peer pressure. Nobody wants to be called a chicken, and some
will experiment with drugs because others are. Being subject to random drug
tests will give a kid a crutch - another reason to say no. "I'm a football
player," or "I play in the band. If I'm caught with traces of pot in my
system I can't play."

Why not then randomly test all students? A somewhat murky legal theory is
that attending public school is a right but an extracurricular activity is
a privilege. Therefore there are more restrictions on privacy rights for
one who simply chooses to go to school and not participate in
extracurricular activities. Whether that's a correct premise, we don't
know, but it is one that is being applied, at least in McComb.
Parenthetically, any child in the McComb system can be subject to random
tests with the permission of parents, but all who participate in
extracurricular activities must agree to tests.

Why not test for alcohol which also is a dangerous drug often used by
teenagers? For one thing alcohol does not stay in one's system as long as
the illegal drugs - thus it is harder to detect a day or two after its use.
Also, the sale of alcohol is tightly regulated. Some say it is easier to
buy marijuana in parts of McComb than it is beer which can't legally be
sold to minors.

Will random drug tests help? We're about to see, at least in McComb.