GOVERNOR AGAINST DRUG LENIENCY BILL

PIERRE (AP) -- An effort to give students a second chance in sports and
other extracurricular activities if caught with marijuana ran into an
unexpected wrinkle Wednesday.

A spokesman for Gov. Mike Rounds said he is strongly opposed to HB1079,
which could cut the current one-year suspension to just 60 school days if
students get drug assessments or treatment.

School boards would get to decide if students deserve early reinstatement.
Only those convicted of marijuana possession or use would be eligible;
marijuana sales and other drugs would continue to bring automatic one-year
suspensions.

Existing law, which has been on the books for five years, requires
permanent suspensions from extracurricular activities for repeat drug
violators. HB1079 would not change that.

Those who support the bill said students who foul up once should not be
cast aside for an entire year. Some of them may never return to those
activities, and some may drop out of school, said people who favor leniency.

"Activities help kids stay in school and be successful," said Rep. Casey
Murschel, R-Sioux Falls, prime sponsor of the measure.

Suspensions from activities are in addition to criminal penalties imposed
on students, she pointed out. Students not involved in activities do not
face that additional punishment, Murschel said. The bill would have
affected 260 students last year, she said.

Wade Pogany, a state Education Department official, told the Senate
Judiciary Committee that the governor does not want to send the wrong
message to kids about drugs.

"We cannot weaken any message about drugs," Pogany said.

"The message on drugs ... needs to be clear, very clear. It needs to be
that drugs are illegal, drugs are dangerous, and in the governor's words,
`are out of bounds when it comes to extracurricular activities. ' "

Pogany said the governor also opposes HB1079, which cleared the committee
5-1, because not all students in activities would be treated the same.
Students getting informal probation would not be suspended from activities
because they would not be convicted, Pogany said.

"Second chances are fine if there's equal application of the law," he said.

Approval of the bill could convince students that marijuana is not
dangerous, Pogany said, although admitting that other drugs are more serious.

Word of the governor's opposition came after Murschel and several others
testified in favor of the bill. Murschel reminded senators that 60 school
days is hardly inconsequential. It is the equivalent of one- third of the
school year, she pointed out.

Kids do dumb things and should be allowed to redeem themselves after
getting professional help, other supporters said. A school board should be
able to decide on a case-by-case basis if students should be reinstated
after 60 school days, they said.

"One rule for everybody doesn't work," said Sen. Tom Dempster, R-Sioux Falls.

Dianna Miller, lobbyist for the state's largest school districts, said
extracurricular activities can keep kids from getting into more scrapes
with the law. Those who must sit out for a year may lose hope, she said,
and some may even drop out of school.

"The more free time children have, the more tendency there is to get into
trouble," Miller said. "If we have kids in activities, they also learn and
develop other social skills.

"If you only punish behavior continually, you will not change behavior."

Terry Dosch of the Council of Community Substance Abuse and Prevention
Programs said it is important that students are assessed by chemical-
dependency counselors or complete treatment programs. Early resumption of
extracurricular activities also would be beneficial, he said.

"We view this to be a judicious pathway to rehabilitation," he said.

Sen. Gene Abdallah, R-Sioux Falls, former head of the Highway Patrol and
former U.S. marshal, said he is hardly soft on drugs, but he favors HB1079.
Children should be given second chances so they don't lose hope, he said.

"If they don't get a second chance, there's a chance that they're going to
just throw in the towel," Abdallah said.

But Sen. J.P. Duniphan, R-Rapid City, the lone no vote, said students know
drugs are illegal and should expect to be punished if caught.

"You use drugs, or you choose not to," she said.

The bill was passed earlier by the South Dakota House. A final legislative
vote on it could come Thursday on the Senate floor.