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54 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, May 5, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 2, 2005 Medford school district parents, from left, Ed Singler, Glen Lake, Kevin Lamson and Greg Mead, show a stack of printouts culled from Lamson�s Internet research they claim shows the success of random drug testing in schools. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Dads want drug tests in schools Parents will ask the Medford school board to study the idea By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune A Medford dad wants to give kids a reason to say no to drugs. And he says random drug tests for students participating in extracurricular activities is the way to do it. Kevin Lamson, whose son attends North Medford High School, has rallied a group of parents and plans to ask the school board at its regular meeting Tuesday to consider a drug-testing policy that would randomly test kids who play sports, participate in activities or get school parking permits. He also would like all parents to have the chance to enroll their children in the testing program, even if the kids don’t participate in school activities. "We owe our kids every tool" to resist drugs, he said. "This is a way to say ‘I love you and I want you to have another reason to say no.’ " Board Chairman Mike Moran said the board welcomes suggestions from parents. "This is a worthwhile thing to look at," he said. "Drugs in schools are a great concern." Advertisement Moran noted, however, that the cost of a testing program and of providing links to counseling or treatment must also be considered, along with students’ rights and parent support. After hours of Internet research, Lamson says he has answers to concerns about need, effectiveness, cost and legality of random drug tests. And after conversations with teens and parents, he thinks the community will support his call for the district to form a task force to study adding such tests. A state survey that showed 44 percent of last year’s high school juniors in Jackson County had tried marijuana and 66 percent had tried alcohol convinced him that the problem is real here. "You hear kids make general statements like ‘everybody does it,’ but it doesn’t sink in," he said. Studies in Oregon and New Jersey have found schools with random drug testing have lower rates of drug use than schools without testing policies, he said. Testing doesn’t appear to diminish participation in extra-curricular activities, the studies found. The Supreme Court upheld the legality of testing student athletes in an Oregon case in 1995 and upheld testing students in other extracurricular activities in 2002. The White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy supports such random testing and the U.S. Department of Education has $5.5 million in grant money available to schools that want to institute a program, Lamson reported. He also said that parents, who already pay a fee for students to participate in activities, and groups that support youth sports might help pay for a program, too. "This is a way to be proactive," said Ed Singler, parent of a South Medford High School sophomore. "This sends kids a signal that we care, not just parents, but the whole community cares." Lamson has contacted an Ohio-based company, Sport Safe, that specializes in student drug testing and charges $26 per test. Lamson estimates at least 50 percent of participating students would have to be tested for the program to be effective. The only two Jackson County school districts that required drug testing during the 1990s, Butte Falls and Prospect, curtailed the tests as budgets tightened in 2002. Following a community debate in 1997, the Phoenix-Talent district decided not to test. Medford, as well as other districts around the Rogue Valley, require students in athletics and activities to sign a code of conduct, promising that they will not use drugs or alcohol or be in a place where the substances are used. Medford’s conduct code also states that if the student is suspected of drug use, officials can bar the student from activities until parents test their child, said school board member Peggy Penland, who helped draft the rules. She said that approach "brings parents in and let’s them raise their child. Our job is to engage the parent." Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] If you go The Medford school board meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the South Medford High School Cafeteria, 815 S. Oakdale Ave. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg diamonds Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Auto Insurance Slippers Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Website Design & Marketing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Mortgage Calculator Free Home-Loan Referrals Advertisement s