Subscribe to one of our news e-mail lists . I just don't think athletes need to smoke. A new government study indicates that smoking among high school students fell slightly last year and government analysts attributed the drop in part to prevention programs. Lance Rhodes admits some of his teammates smoke.
Students get three chances before punishment is imposed.
The third offense will get athletes suspended from one-quarter of their upcoming athletic contests. Hoover's policy stops short of a total ban on student smoking, but it's an incentive for athletes not to smoke. Middle school athletes will also be tested and school district officials say neither parents nor students have objected. ACLU warns against setting precedent The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 34.8 percent of high school students nationwide in 1999 reported they had smoked a cigarette in the previous 30 days. That was down from 36.4 percent in 1997 and the first overall decline since government's first such study, in 1991.