Is there drug testing for athletes in high school?
Being a student athlete in high school or college can be great. In both college and high school, student athletes have to endure lengthy practices and training sessions, while continuing to perform well in school as well. Student athletes also have to participate in random drug testing in schools. The drug testing in schools policy for high school students is governed by each school district, so you need to pay attention to your particular school district’s policy to know where you or your student athletes stand about drug testing.
For more general information, the National Institute of Medicines provides some information about drug testing in schools.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 20% of public high schools, about 2 in 10, have mandatory drug testing policies that apply to athletes. These schools have policies for in-school drug testing of students involved in extracurricular activities, they are less used than schools for drug testing.
Now, some schools question the validity of randomized in-school drug testing due to suspicion of privacy violations. However, in June of 2002, the US Supreme Court found that it was not a violation, and they decided to allow high schools to conduct these random drug tests.
The effects of drugs on students:
- Poor school performance
- Cardiac issues like blood clots, stroke, and heart attacks
- Skin problems like acne
- Hormonal changes to the hair, voice, breasts and sex organs
- Liver problems with blood-filled cavities and tumors
- Unhappiness and depression
- Declining social skills and relationships
Drug testing method in school
Urine Drug Test: In schools, drug testing follows certain procedures to assess the presence of a drug metabolite, such as THC, in the adolescent’s body. An immediate student like a 10 panel T-cup CLIA waived urine drug test cup can detect drug metabolites above the federal cut-off level of 10 panel drug screen 50 ng / ml. Positive results are subject to a confirmatory test known as gas chromatography or mass spectroscopy.
Saliva Drug Testing: Drug testing can also be done using the Saliva Drug Test Kit. This non-invasive drug testing method uses an oral fluid sample such as saliva to give a fast and accurate result. A saliva drug test is most reliable for identifying opiates and methamphetamine.
Hair Follicle Drug Test: For school drug test kits, a hair drug test is expensive. It is a non-intrusive method of testing illegal substances and a substance detection period of 90 days. If a person refrains from taking drugs, the result will be unaffected if the child passes the test. Contrary to popular belief, not a single hair strand is sufficient for drug testing.
How to beat drug testing in school?
Most of the students beat drug testing using either a method called dilution, or synthetic urine (more info). Dilution includes drinking water or special detox products that mask presence of drugs in the body, so that drug test results will show up as negative.
Conclusion
After the testing policy was added, a number of schools found that the percentage of drug-positive results decreased significantly over time. After a drug program was approved, students had to undergo the necessary drug tests to participate in additional activities such as sports and clubs.
Overall, drug testing has proven to be a simple, effective way of reducing the number of students taking illicit drugs.