Random Drug Testing

The performance of random drug testing has seen its fair share of scrutiny in terms of cost, test result reliability, and constitutionality. Drug testing has been fraught with controversy for decades by both employers and employees alike and there are three valid reasons as to why the testing is not ideal. One of the main elements that is a cause for concern is an employee’s invasion of privacy. When an employee tests positive, there is a strong possibility and fear that they will be permanently stigmatized. Any explanation given to the employer, whether it’s voluntary or forced on contingency of employment, violates their HIPAA Rights. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, for example, has referred to the practice as a "needless indignity" (DeCew, 1994).

After years of delays, rising tensions and hours of discussion, a proposal to randomly drug-test Zionsville High School students was approved Monday night.The Zionsville School Board voted 3-2 in favor of the new policy which requires any students who elect to participate in extracurricular activities or park on school property to consent to random drug tests.Students who fail a drug test will be required to enter and complete a drug counseling program.The approved plan is a variation of one supported years ago by the Zionsville Student Rights Union. They also proposed that only students who park or participate in afterschool programs be tested, but the union plan wanted students to face no consequences at school, and for positive results to

The goal of mandatory drug testing would be to reduce student substance by deterring substance use, detecting substance use, and the influence of the behaviors of students peers. Students involved in extracurricular activities, such as sports that are subject to in school drug testing, report less drug use than students in high school that do not play a sport and do not get drug tested. By drug testing the Athens student body would help by insure a safe, secure, and healthy school environment where students can reach their full academic potential to learn. Athens High schools goal should be to identify students with possible drug abuse issues and to intervene. Students should be required to take drug test to be allowed to park on campus. Less drugs in

FACTS: Tecumseh Oklahoma School District in 1998 enacts a policy of testing students that compete in extracurricular activities. The policy tests students for illegal or non-prescribed legal drugs, and students are tested when signing up for activities and could be tested randomly or due to suspicious behavior. The School District’s drug testing process included allowing students to provide samples in a closed stall, kept results in a confidential file separate from other school records, not provide results to law enforcement, allows students to retest after a time period, and no effect on a students’ academic records.

With high school budgets dropping, and more athletes joining the sports teams the possibility of drug testing every athlete becomes less likely daily. School’s budgets cannot afford to test every student athlete. With prices rising and budgets dropping, the 100,000-dollar price tag to test 600 Florida high school students doesn’t look too appealing to the schools budget, which is why the program fell through shortly after. Also, in 2007, high schools in Texas performed more than 10,000 drug tests on student athletes but the program shrunk to thirty-three percent of its original size (“How Effective”). Knowing that the worth of a single dollar is plummeting and prices at an all-time high, is drug testing our student athletes necessary? To just test 600 students (the size of some senior classes) in Florida is roughly 100,000-dollars. Seeing schools waste money like that on unproven programs with limited results is shameful. Drug testing students in mass quantities or even testing at all is costing high schools a pretty penny and all drug testing programs are failing because of lack of funding. To get more in depth, to break down each individual testing price can cost schools a fortune. Now know, the cost of a single test can range between 15-35 dollars, which could lead to tens of thousands annually. Over an eight-year period Texas high schools spent an estimated 10 million dollars on urine tests for student athletes

Secondly, the 4th amendment to the constitution protects people against unreasonable search and seizures. In brief, the 4th amendment says that “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” (Westlaw, 2015) The amendment clarifies very nicely that people secure in their persons against unreasonable searches and seizures. Therefore, a drug test is constituted as a search in a person because the university is looking for something in a person. However, they are conducting a search without a probable cause because they have not arrested everyone for abusing the illegal drug. Moreover, only 15% of the student consent that they are using drugs, but not all the students accepted that they were using illegal drugs. Therefore, the university cannot conduct a search for every student because they do not have a probable cause that every student has used illegal drugs. Hence, the drug-testing policy of the university is an unlawful search. According to the public

In September 2000 a school in New Jersey suspended all random testing when the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in New Jersey state court on behalf of students who claimed their Fourth Amendment rights were violated. I disagree with this problem because I am positive people don’t really mind taking the test if they are not hiding a anything. The Fourth Amendment states this “The right of the people to be secure in their people, homes, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized”. Well technically the school did violate their rights but if the students are in any kind of athletic program they should be able to take a drug test with being able to say their rights are being

of drug use. Also, all students must submit to the test, making it 1) suspicionless, and 2)

The first reason why middle school's students should be drug tested is because students who are randomly tested for drug use are less

The educational system in the United States has gone through many changes over the last century. These changes are a part of a constant movement toward educational excellence for every child in this nation. One of the most recent acts placed on public school systems by the government is to create more accountability for schools in order to ensure that all children are receiving the proper education. Part of this mandate is that public schools will require students to take tests in order to gather information about their academic achievement. Although educators and administrators claim that the mandatory ability testing programs being initiated in America’s public schools will hold students and teachers accountable for academic

2. The issue is whether public school districts can perform random drug screening of students who participate in school athletic programs under state or federal law.

In order to keep organization ethical as it relates to drug testing, the U.S. Supreme Court has approved four methods for drug testing. The organization can request a blood, breath, hair, or urine tests. These tests will not harm the job candidate or employee. The company will send the job candidate or employee to an off-site medical

If an employer is suspicious regarding a current employees' status, they are allowed by law to request or give a random drug test. In general, most courts do not need to hold a suspicion to randomly drug test unless there is a risk of damage or human injury involved. Although, in some state laws, there are private employers which are given the right to randomly test any employee without a reason. According Specifically to the Florida law, "An employer that conducts drug testing must give its policy to employees in writing, and employees must have at least 60 days’ notice of the policy".

Many high schools across the country have brought much attention to the idea of giving random drug tests to students in high school. The newfound interest in student drug testing may be as a result of recent polls, which have shown an increase in drug use among high school students. Many teachers, parents, and members of school comities are for the drug testing, while most students and some parents feel that this would be a violation of students rights as Americans, which is true.

It seems that drugs have become a major epidemic within teenagers in the last few years. There is only so much that can be done to try and eliminate drug use, while not dramatically changing anything in the community. Drug testing the district’s student athletes provides many reasons that it is a worthwhile expense. Lawyers, Mark Vetter and Daniel Chanen, stated in the Sports Law Institute Newsletter “First, student-athletes were the leaders of the drug culture” (Vetter and Chanen ¶3). This simple statement proves that athletes need to be drug tested; it will improve multiple circumstances within the district and the lives of athletes. Drug testing student athletes at the high school level is a step every school district needs to take in order to improve their schools, and the students’ lifestyles despite the high price tag on these tests.