TESTS TARGET TEEN SMOKERS

VESTAVIA HILLS - No longer a rite of passage smoked in the bathroom between
classes, tobacco has increasingly become a ticket to trouble in public
school districts that test to see if students have been puffing or chewing.

Opponents of such testing say it violates students' rights and can keep
them out of the extracurricular activities they need most to stay on track.

But advocates say it's a natural extension of drug testing.

"Typically, tobacco is seen as a gateway drug," said Jeff McAlpin, director
of marketing for EDPM, a Birmingham drug-testing company. "Some addicted
drug users look back to cigarettes as the start of it all."

Testing students for drugs, usually through a urine sample, has spread in
recent years and was given a boost in June by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling
that affirmed random drug testing of those in extracurricular activities.

Adding tobacco to the normal battery of tests is simple, and while critics
view it as a violation of student rights, many support the anti-smoking
program.

"I agree with it," said 16-year-old Vestavia Hills High School junior
Rosemary Stafford, a member of the marching band. "It's illegal, it's
addictive. Maybe the punishment shouldn't be as severe, but they should
test for it."

The number of school districts that test for tobacco is difficult to
determine because drug testing policies are enacted locally. But a
preliminary case study of nine schools nationwide by the Institute for
Behavior and Health in Rockville, Md., showed that four were testing for
nicotine.

In Alabama, about a dozen districts, mostly in the Birmingham area, test
for nicotine along with alcohol and several drugs, including marijuana. In
most cases, the penalties for testing positive for continine - a metabolite
that remains in the body following tobacco use - are the same as those for
illicit narcotics.

After testing positive for any drug, a student's parents are notified and
the student is usually placed on probation and briefly suspended from
sports or other activities.

"Tobacco is illegal for them to have - it's also a health and safety
issue," said Phil Hastings, supervisor of safety and alternative education
for schools in Decatur, which recently adopted a testing program that
includes tobacco.

"We've got a responsibility to let the kids know the dangers of tobacco
use," Hastings said.

While the overall issue of random drug testing of students is being
combatted by the American Civil Liberties Union and students' rights
groups, the addition of nicotine testing has drawn little opposition.

"It's shocking to many people that about 30 percent of high school seniors
are regular cigarette smokers. Here we are, 38 years after the surgeon
general's report, and it's still a real concern," said Dr. Robert DuPont,
principal investigator for the Institute for Behavior and Health.

Although nicotine is not intoxicating and is legal for adults, DuPont hopes
that penalties that encourage quitting rather than punishment will reduce
tobacco use.

"'Just Say No' has become a trite expression," said Hoover High School
Principal Gene Godwin. "It doesn't mean anything anymore. Testing gives
kids the excuse to say no."

Some school districts are considering policies based on guidelines
published last month by the White House's Office of Drug Control Policy,
which doesn't specifically address tobacco testing.

"On tobacco, we have the same policy as on testing for drugs - it may not
be right for every school and community," said Jennifer de Vallance, press
secretary for the office. "We encourage parents and officials to assess the
extent and nature of the tobacco problem."

Opponents to drug testing are hard to find in most schools, partly out of
fear that those who speak out will be branded as drug users.

Several students at Vestavia Hills and Hoover high schools who said they
oppose testing - especially for tobacco - refused to give their names
during interviews.

Their fear may be well-founded.

For Vestavia Hills clarinet player Ahlina Daryab, 17, opposing testing is
an obvious indicator: "The ones who are using drugs are the ones who oppose
it, because they'll get caught."

But there is some concern that drug testing of students in after-school
activities is targeting those students least likely to be using drugs.

Shawn Heller, executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy in
Washington, D.C., said tobacco use by teenagers is a major problem, but
testing for it is just another step in the invasion of students' privacy.

"We're making schools like prisons," he said.