A few private schools, such as Pope John Paul II High School in Slidell, La., even plan to test their entire student bodies starting next fall. Proponents of student drug testing acknowledge its potential constitutional flaws, but they say it isjustified given the extent and stubbornness of adolescent substance abuse. Although drug use is down slightly after six years of steady increase, some 41 percent of high school seniors used illicit drugs last year, according to the University of Michigan's respected Monitoring the Future study. Testing, proponents say, can relieve students of peer pressure by giving them an excuse to say no. But a review of numerous school policies and court cases shows that worries about drug testing go beyond potential breaches of the Fourth Amendment protection against unlawful search and seizure.
Opponents say the tests are also costly, ineffective, and prone to abuse.
God help us if we come to that. In many schools, we already have. The Olentangy district is an example of how a model program works. Ten percent of student athletes are called at random from class each week. If these results are also positive, and if testers rule out the presence of substances that could skew them, the principal and parents are notified.