STUDY SUGGESTS SCHOOL DRUG TESTS ARE EFFECTIVE

Portland, Ore (AP) -- Student-athletes subject to random drug testing at an
Oregon high school were almost four times less likely to use drugs than
their counterparts at a similar school who were not tested, a study shows.

The one-year pilot study by Oregon Health & Sciences University researchers
compared Wahtonka High School in The Dalles, where all student-athletes
were subject to random testing, and Warrenton High School, a
demographically similar school near Astoria, where they were not.

Of the 135 athletes subject to the random testing at Wahtonka, only 5.3
percent said they were using illicit drugs by the end of the school year,
versus 19.4 percent of the 141 athletes at Warrenton.

They also were three times less likely to use performance-enhancing
substances like steroids, according to the survey responses, which were
confidential.

The study comes six months after the issue was thrown into the spotlight by
the U.S. Supreme Court. In June, the court ruled that children attending
public schools can be required to participate in drug testing if they join
any competitive after-school activity, from football to chess.