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Hawaii teachers won't have to provide these to keep their jobs. (image via Wikimedia)
Hawaii teachers won't have to provide these to keep their jobs. (image via Wikimedia)

Hawaii Teachers Defeat Random Drug Testing

The Hawaii teachers' union has finally, definitively fended off state demands that it accept random suspicionless drug testing of teachers.
No mandatory random drug tests for Illini Bluff teachers, but they have to pass one drug test first. (Image: ISBD 327)
No mandatory random drug tests for Illini Bluff teachers, but they have to pass one drug test first. (Image: ISBD 327)

llinois School District Teachers Settle Drug Testing Strike

Illini Bluff school teachers managed to fend off random drug testing for themselves, if not their successors, but still submitted to one drug test to get back to work.
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Mexico Drug War Update

Along with the usual carnage and corruption, suspected Zetas killed 52 casino goers in a gasoline/fire attack, teachers skipped school following extortion threats, authorities bust a Sinaloa Cartel "cell" in Utah, and one cartel has put up "wanted" posters targeting leaders of another cartel and offered rewards for them.
No school in Glaston, Illinois, this week. Teachers struck rather than submit to random drug tests. (Image: IBSD 327)
No school in Glaston, Illinois, this week. Teachers struck rather than submit to random drug tests. (Image: IBSD 327)

IL School District Teachers Strike Over Drug Testing

An Illinois school board demands that teachers submit to mandatory random drug testing even as it concedes there is no need for it. As a result, instead of teachers welcoming students to school this week, they're hitting the picket line.
Hawaii teachers won't have to provide these to keep their jobs. (image via wikimedia.org)
Hawaii teachers won't have to provide these to keep their jobs. (image via wikimedia.org)

Hawaii Teachers Fend Off Random Drug Testing

After more than three years of controversy and challenges, the state of Hawaii has given up on trying to impose random, suspicionless drug testing on teachers.

Is DARE Program Worth It?

While participants remain enthusiastic, scientific reviews have been negative on the effectiveness of the DARE program, which started in Los Angeles in 1983. A 2006 report by the U.S. Surgeon General concluded that those who participate in DARE are just as likely to use drugs as those who don’t. Khadija K. Swims, of Grand Valley State University, reviewed several studies on DARE and concluded the program is "ineffective" in preventing future drug, alcohol and tobacco use in adolescents. The results of such studies mean schools can’t spend federal money on DARE. Under rules that went into effect in 1998, the Department of Education requires agencies that receive federal money to prove within two years that their programs reduce drug use among students.
Some educators require remedial litigation to ensure they understand their students' privacy rights. (Image courtesy DVSD)
Some educators require remedial litigation to ensure they understand their students' privacy rights. (Image courtesy DVSD)

PA School Districts Sued Over Student Drug Testing

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held in 2003 that schools must show a demonstrable need for drug testing students. Now, a pair of districts are being sued for requiring testing even though they have shown no need.

Delaware Valley School District Sued Over Drug Testing Policy

ACLU lawyers are fighting Delaware Valley School District's drug-testing policy in court on behalf of two students. The ACLU believes the district's policy violates a 2003 Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling, Theodore vs. Delaware Valley School District. That decision required schools to justify suspicionless drug testing programs with evidence of a widespread drug problem among students, unless the school could show additional evidence that the group of students undergoing testing had a high rate of drug use.

Synthetic Marijuana Widely Used at Naval Academy, Some Midshipmen Say

A synthetic form of marijuana is widely used at the U.S. Naval Academy because it cannot be detected in routine drug tests, according to several former midshipmen. Since its introduction at the academy last year, synthetic marijuana has become popular among rank-and-file midshipmen and on the football and wrestling teams. Some isolated corners of the historic Annapolis campus have become well-known gathering spots for smoking it.

Medical Marijuana Using High School Student Back in Class After Apology from School District's Lawyer

A high school student kept off campus for using medical marijuana has received an apology from the district's lawyer and is back in school. The student has a rare disease called Myoclonus Diaphragmatic Flutter, and it causes him to have seizure such as spasms in his diaphram. At the beginning of every attack, he takes a 10 mg medical marijuana throat lozenge. The student's family wants to take legal action and are in talks with an attorney from Denver to make it legal for nurses to administer medical marijuana on campus.