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Newsbrief:
School
Districts
Drug
Testing
for
Tobacco,
Too
10/11/02
A small number of school
districts around the country have expanded anti-drug urine testing programs
to include tobacco, the use of which is unlawful for most high school students.
According to the Associated Press, about a dozen districts in the Birmingham,
AL, area test for tobacco, along with alcohol and several illegal drugs,
including marijuana. The AP report also cited the Blackford County,
IN, school district as having such a policy in place and noted that the
Columbia County, FL, school district is considering one this week.
School districts around the
country are revisiting the issue of drug testing after the Supreme Court
ruled in June that random drug screening of students involved in extracurricular
activities was constitutional. A 1995 Supreme Court ruling had okayed
the practice for student athletes.
In most cases in the Alabama
school districts, students who test positive for cotinine -- the metabolic
byproduct left over after smoking or chewing tobacco -- face the same penalties
as those who test positive for illegal drugs: The student's parents
are called and the student is typically suspended from sports or other
activities and placed on school probation.
Perhaps the addition of tobacco
testing will prevent the programs from being a complete waste of time.
In Alabama's Hoover High School, authorities conducted 679 drug tests on
its athletes and only two came up positive for illicit drugs. Twelve
came up positive for tobacco.
-- END --
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Issue #258, 10/11/02
Editorial: Just Claims | Ordeal of the Pain Doctors: California Physician Still Struggling to Clear His Name, Trial Date Set for December | DRCNet Interview: Nandor Tanczos, Member of Parliament, New Zealand | California Medical Marijuana Chronicles: A Widening Conflict | MedMj Chronicles I: The Feds Are Deadly Serious: Bryan Epis Sentenced to Federal Prison | MedMj Chronicles II: San Jose Police Department Cuts Ties with DEA Task Force | MedMj Chronicles III: Marijuana Patients and Caregivers Sue the Feds, Seek Order to Stop Raids | MedMj Chronicles IV: Marijuana Rescheduling Petition Revived | FDA Approves Buphrenorphine for Home Addiction Treatment | Whose Brain on Drugs? Stanford Symposium Focuses on Addiction and Chemistry | Newsbrief: Colombian Ombudsman Petitions Government for Suspension of Herbicide Spraying | Newsbrief: RAVE Act Stalled in House, Could Be Dead for the Year | Newsbrief: Wisconsin Couple Commit Suicide After Pot and 'Shroom Bust, Forfeiture Notice | Newsbrief: Ban on Narcocorridos Spreads in Mexico | Newsbrief: School Districts Drug Testing for Tobacco, Too | Newsbrief: Leaders of Former Soviet Republics Meet to Fight Drugs and Terror, Drink Wine | Newsbrief: Canadian Researchers Seek Approval for Heroin Maintenance Study | Calling on Students to Raise Your Voices for Repeal of the HEA Drug Provision | Action Alerts: Rave Bill, Medical Marijuana, Higher Education Act Drug Provision | The Reformer's Calendar
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