Of 550 high school athletes drug-tested in Bullitt (KY), one was positive

Of 550 high school athletes drug-tested in Bullitt, one was positive | courier-journal | The Courier-Journal
Only one Bullitt County high school student tested positive for drugs last school year, though nearly 550 tests were given.

“It’s great news,” said Jaime Goldsmith, the district’s director of safe and drug-free schools. “It dispels some of those rumors that it’s running rampant.”

The urine tests screen for marijuana, amphetamines, steroids, ecstasy, hydrosol, PCP, methadone, barbiturates, benzodiaphine (such as Xanax), opiates, cocaine, propoxyphene (in painkillers such as Darvon) and alcohol.

The one positive test was for alcohol, Goldsmith said.

This year, all middle and high school students in the district will undergo drug tests if they play a sport or participate in a competitive extracurricular group. School board members voted to expand the testing program in March.

Parents whose children don’t play sports or participate in competitive activities can also have them tested by entering them into the “volunteer pool,” Goldsmith said.

There are penalties for testing positive. Students who fail the tests must sit out 20 percent of the season and pass another drug test before returning, Goldsmith said. After a second failure, the student must miss the whole season and be tested each month for a year.

Student who fail a third time are banned from competitive programs for the rest of their middle or high school careers.

Students who fail any tests also must undergo drug counseling.

Let’s see, one out of 550 tests positive, a drug test costs about $50 for that school district, so therefore that one positive drug test cost $27,500.  Meanwhile, we’ve got teachers being forced to reach into their own pockets to buy paper and pencils for their students.  How many school supplies could you buy with $27,500?

Studies show that getting your kid into extra-curricular activities is one of the best ways to keep them away from using drugs.  So if a kid fails a drug test, the idea is to get them out of their extra-curricular activities?

What about the kid who may be smoking pot but may also want to join the football team.  He knows that pot stays in your system for a long time, so even if he quits, he might test positive and face that embarrassment.  So why bother trying out for the team at all?

Note also the one positive test was for alcohol.  Kids know that alcohol can’t be detected after just a couple of days, but marijuana can be detected for weeks.  So given the choice of dangerous alcohol vs. mild marijuana, these drug tests motivate them to pick the more dangerous drug.  (Same goes for most of the drugs you’re testing for – they fade within a couple of days – not to mention the drugs you’re not testing for, like huffing glue or solvents.)

Finally, it’s not the kid who’s trying out for debate team or the basketball squad who has the substance abuse problem, it’s the kid who always shows up late to first period or is frequently absent.  So pat yourself on the back all you want, Mr. Goldsmith, for there not being a drug problem “running rampant” among your star athletes and gifted students, but those tests say nothing about the majority of students in your school who do not participate in extra-curricular activities.