cannabisnews.com: Tulia Drug Policy Ruling Leaves Questions Tulia Drug Policy Ruling Leaves Questions Posted by FoM on December 08, 2000 at 07:05:57 PT Editorial Source: Amarillo Globe-News The decision Tuesday by the Tulia Independent School District to appeal U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson's ruling in opposition of the school district's drug testing policy was warranted and deserves further legal consideration to determine the policy's constitutionality.A Tulia High School student sued the school district in 1997 on the grounds the district's policy of requiring students to submit to mandatory drug testing to participate in extracurricular activities was unconstitutional. In her opinion, Robinson stated a comparison between the TISD policy and a similar policy in Vernonia, Ore., was not an adequate comparison.The U.S. Supreme Court upheld random drug testing as a result of the Oregon case.According to Robinson, in the Oregon case, "a large part of the student body was in rebellion and athletes were leaders of the drug culture. The decision was based in part on the increased risk of sports-related injuries. There is no contention that the situation in Tulia ISD in any way resembles that in Vernonia."There are two issues that warrant an appeal.Primarily, are there specific legal standards required to enact a school drug testing policy such as the one in place in the TISD? If there are, what are they and what constitutes a drug problem in a school that would be deemed serious enough to approve a policy? Should this decision be best left to school officials rather than a judge to determine?Secondly, is it constitutional to apply this policy only to student-athletes and not other students participating in extracurricular activities such as band or debate? What about the student body as a whole?Despite Robinson's ruling, these are questions that need to be addressed and why TISD officials are justified in seeking an appeal to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.Source: Amarillo Globe-News (TX)Published: December 8, 2000Copyright: 2000 Amarillo Globe-NewsAddress: P.O. Box 2091, Amarillo, TX 79166Fax: (806) 373-0810Website: http://amarillonet.com/Contact: letters amarillonet.comForum: http://208.138.68.214:90/eshare/server?action=4Related Articles: At Least We're Talking About These Issues http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7912.shtmlDrug-Testing Suit To Move To Next Level http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7911.shtmlTulia ISD To Fight Drug-Test Ruling http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7910.shtmlCannabisNews Drug Testing Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/drug_testing.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: