The prospect of random drug testing at Novi, Mi., High School is already making students think twice about smoking a joint, says the Detroit Free Press. The Novi Community School District’s athletic committee is considering testing studies updates to a 20-year-old student-athlete code of conduct policy. If approved, Novi would become one of a few Michigan districts to test athletes. Senior class president B.J. Chaklos, 17, said he knows of some students who already have stopped using marijuana.
Along with testing, the proposal calls for athletes to miss 25 percent of the season if they are caught using drugs or alcohol even once. Some think the plan is too strict. The American Civil Liberties Union maintains there should be good reason for testing kids before doing so. “This kind of invasion of privacy should not be a condition for voluntary participation in school activities, especially when drug testing is often inaccurate and an ineffective means of dealing with drug abuse,” said the ACLU’s Wendy Wagenheim. “If there is no apparent problem or no reason to suspect that a student is using drugs, why test them?” A 2003 University of Michigan study showed little difference in drug use among students at schools where there was drug testing and those where there wasn’t.
Link: http://www.freep.com/news/locoak/drugtest16e_20041216.htm