[OG Kush]

More California schools, including some in the Central Valley, may begin random drug testing of students to answer one fundamental question:

Does it really work?

The Bush administration thinks it does, which is why the White House wants a record $15 million to fund random drug tests next year. Already, federal funding has boosted drug testing this year in the Southern California cities of El Centro, Oceanside, Paradise and Vista.


"The school that has started testing is very satisfied with it," Rita Brogan, director of well-being programs with the Imperial County Office of Education, said Friday. "The community is very supportive. Of course, there are always one or two who will raise concerns."

The concerns, in fact, range from principled to pragmatic. Some question the privacy precedent of requiring urine specimens from cheerleaders and student-body officers. Some doubt random testing cuts drug use. Some worry about costs that can run upward of $60 per test.

Still, even without federal support like the $300,000 grant provided the Imperial County schools, drug testing has proliferated. Schools in Valley and Mother Lode towns including Angels Camp, Clovis, Kingsburg and Fowler have initiated voluntary student drug testing. In Fresno, the idea has sparked a running debate.

"I think if there were additional funding, more schools would do it," said Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools Joe Silva.

At the same time, Silva noted that drug testing of student athletes in Nevada County -- where he was living when his children were in high school -- provoked considerable controversy. So far, he said, "there have been no discussions" of initiating drug tests in Tuolumne County schools.

Nationwide, an estimated 13 percent of high schools had established drug-testing policies as of 2003 despite some persistent skepticism. In Modoc County, for instance, educators considered and then rejected a mandatory drug-testing plan.

"The privacy interest in one's urine is significant," the libertarian-minded Cato Institute averred in a 2002 friend-of-the-court brief. "The students here are required to urinate into a cup while a teacher listens outside the stall ( girls ) or behind them ( boys ) for sounds of tampering ... this is all still a significant intrusion."


Newshawk: SX420 - 420Girls.com
Source: 420Times.com
Author: Michael Doyle
Copyright: 2006 Merced Sun-Star
Contact: editor@mercedsun-star.com
Website: http://www.mercedsun-star.com/