STUDENT OPPOSES RANDOM DRUG TESTS

I am in favor of abolishing the random drug testing policy at Russell High
School. I have been a victim of this unconstitutional act and believe that
it should be ended.

I am aware that a student's rights are changed whenever they enter the
school, but I also believe that the Constitution is the supreme law of the
land, and that drug testing violates one's fourth amendment right against
illegal search and seizure.

I'm not in favor of drug use, nor do I condone it, but I do feel schools
should not be able to perfrom such "random" drug tests. I am also
convinced that these tests are not truly random. School officials and
teachers can see which students use drugs (it's fairly obvious), but
somehow fail to test them. I believe these omissions from the testing are
to preserve the school's good record with the local media.

The premise for these tests is the participation in extracurricular
activities and sports. It has, however, been proved that the involvement in
these activities is a deterrent to drug use.

What has happened at Russell is the exact opposite: the threat of being
drug tested has driven many students to totally withdraw form
extracurricular activities, leaving them with nothing but free time after
school.

Another problem that I have with the drug testing policy is the cost. I
lack a textbook in my Statistics class because there are not sufficient
funds, yet there was enough money to pay for the drug test that was issued
to me recently. My problem with this is the fact that thousands of dollars
have been spent on drug testing when there are clearly higher priorities
within the school system.

Tim Meko

Senior, Russell High School