[420 Girl]

A longstanding drug-testing program for student athletes could end this year, as Monroe County School Board members said money used to fund the program could be better used to tutor Keys athletes.

"I certainly like the idea of putting [money] back towards our athletes," said Superintendent Randy Acevedo, who heard a consensus from the school board at Tuesday's meeting to axe the current testing program.

Acevedo said the program was instituted in the mid-1990s during Mike Lannon's tenure as superintendent. The program, which costs $20,000 per year, dictates that 25 percent of a high school's athletes in each sport are randomly tested for common recreational drugs like marijuana and alcohol.

If a student tests positive, he or she is suspended for a certain time from that sport and possibly school and are entered into a counseling program, said Pedro Fraga, the district's business and fiscal services director. District staff said of the dozens of students randomly tested last year, only four tested positive. None of those students were at the Keys' largest school, Key West High School.

"I talked to a lot of coaches and most of the athletic directors," board Chairman Steve Pribramsky said. "I think they'll tell you off the record this is kind of a joke. This is in no way a deterrent. Kids that want to beat it can beat it, and the rest of them don't care.

"We might as well spend 20 grand in posters saying don't do drugs. It would be just as effective," he added. "I propose we divvy it up to the three [high] schools with the stipulation this has to go to help" student athletes. Pribramsky had previously supported the idea of expanding testing to students participating in other extracurricular activities, such as band, because the current system unfairly targeted athletes.

http://www.420magazine.com/forums/in...ly-ending.html