EssAyEmEe3 Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 SCHOOL DRUG TESTS UPHELD By James Vicini Reuters WASHINGTON (June 27) - A divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday that public middle and high schools can require drug tests for students in extracurricular activities like choir or band without violating their privacy rights. By a 5-4 vote, the high court said the program in Tecumseh, Oklahoma, that required students who want to take part in after-school activities to submit to random urinalysis was a "reasonable means" to prevent and detect drug use. The tests, required without any suspicion of drug use, covered students in grades 7 to 12 who sign up for such activities as cheerleading, choir, band, the academic team, the Future Farmers of America and Future Homemakers of America. Critics said the ruling opened the door for drug testing of the 23 million students in public high schools across the country. The four dissenters said students who take part in extracurricular activities were far less likely to have drug problems than their less-involved peers. In dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ridiculed the "nightmarish images of out-of-control flatware, livestock run amok and colliding tubas disturbing the peace and quiet in Tecumseh." She said most students the school wanted to test were not even involved in "safety-sensitive" activities. On the last day of their term, the court majority ruled the drug-testing policy did not violate constitutional privacy protections against unreasonable searches. "The nationwide drug epidemic makes the war against drugs a pressing concern in every school," Justice Clarence Thomas said for the majority. "We conclude that the invasion of students' privacy is not significant." A student who refuses to take the test or who tests positive more than twice cannot take part in competition for the rest of the school year. Students are tested at the start of the school year and then randomly throughout the year, with names drawn every month. RULING COULD BOOST SCHOOL DRUG TESTS The ruling could boost school drug testing. Over the past three years, about 5 percent of schools nationwide have required drug tests for student athletes while about 2 percent have tested students in other extracurricular activities. The Supreme Court last addressed the issue in 1995, when it ruled that public high schools and middle schools may force student athletes to submit to drug tests. The Oklahoma case covered extracurricular activities other than athletics. Thomas rejected the argument that the students involved in nonathletic extracurricular activities have a greater expectation of privacy because they were not subject to regular physicals and communal undress. "Some of these clubs and activities require occasional off-campus travel and communal undress," he said. Thomas described as minimally intrusive the way the urine sample was collected. "A faculty monitor waits outside the closed restroom stall for the student to produce a sample and must 'listen for the normal sounds of urination in order to guard against tampered specimens'," Thomas said. In Tecumseh, a rural town about 40 miles from Oklahoma City, two students challenged the policy after its adoption in 1998, claiming the school failed to show it had a problem with illegal drugs. Of the more than 500 students tested while the program was in effect during part of two school years, only three students, all athletes, tested positive. Two of the athletes also participated in other extracurricular activities. In addition to Ginsburg, Justices John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor and David Souter dissented. The Drug Policy Alliance, a drug policy organization, criticized the ruling. "The court's decision is both foolhardy and dangerous in sending exactly the wrong message to America's children -- that they have no right to privacy, and that schools can prioritize the cleanliness of one's urine over academic achievement and participation in student life," Judy Appel, the group's deputy legal director, said. Joseph Califano of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in New York, applauded the decision, but said drug testing alone won't solve the problem. Reuters 06/27/02 14:17 ET Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sneak Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 first haha no drugs testing in schools here boyo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Morris Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 there goes my old high school's steroid and pot feuled football team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ledzep Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 dont do extracurricular activities . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssAyEmEe3 Posted June 28, 2002 Author Share Posted June 28, 2002 Its funny seeing as about 4/5's of the people in my school do some sort of mind altering substance...And the ones who don't are either really religious, or just do...no slash that..the dorky lookin' kids do drugs too....but either way, if they do this, our activities are fucked for awhile. On a lighter note, I once knew this guy who was tripping acid at school. And he was all like "Dude, Im peaking right now man, I'm fucking tripping my balls off."..and I waved a hand in front of his face and he got all freaked out and shit. So I walked away from him..2 minutes later we have a power failure...and he goes screaming through the halls yelling incoherently. Funny shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GEAsusONEnep Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 Originally posted by EssAyEmEe3 "We conclude that the invasion of students' privacy is not significant." AHAHAHAHA. God bless America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suburbian bum Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 HAHAH. I actually dont really care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Priest Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 Originally posted by EssAyEmEe3 SCHOOL DRUG TESTS UPHELD By James Vicini Reuters high schools can require drug tests for students in extracurricular activities like choir or band without violating their privacy rights. Reuters 06/27/02 14:17 ET Because choir kids are notoriously known for there drug binges...:rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.T Boy Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 Re: Re: Dont know if this was posted already..but.. Originally posted by High Priest Because choir kids are notoriously known for there drug binges...:rolleyes: EXACTLY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest YinzerXpress Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 Re: Re: Dont know if this was posted already..but.. Originally posted by High Priest Because choir kids are notoriously known for there drug binges...:rolleyes: hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest YinzerXpress Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 i wouldnt have done any extra curricular activities in high school, if this was the case back then. even if i wasnt doing drugs, just the sheer fact that the people educating you are now trying to parent you as well is fucking bullshit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheps Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 I played ice hockey in high school and they never tested us. Obviously if they saw you with drugs and shit they would do something, but drug test? nah, thats shitty. I toked before practice one time, that was a big mistake, I couldnt feel my legs on the ice and shit, it was the longest practice of my life. Ah, high school memories. -A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dot. Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 fuck... as long as we won all my coaches encouraged drinking and drugs. even bought... this is bullshit. why is america so fucked? -dot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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