There was a time when people thought of drugs as only being a problem in the big cities, especially those on the east or west coast. Maybe it was because we saw it on television, because drug-related stories were always set in New York City, or Los Angeles, California, not in Podunk, Wyoming. Some people thought the rural areas and the middle areas of the country were pretty safe.
But unfortunately, drug distribution and the desire for drugs has only increased over the past 40 years, despite the fact that more money is spent on educating young people against it, and lots more money is spent on the “war against drugs.”
It has become fairly commonplace for employers to require drug-testing of their applicants, and government officials in many states have determined that welfare recipients should be tested for drugs and if positive, should not be given those financial benefits.
And now the question has hit the high schools – not for every student, but for every student involved in extracurricular activities. That would probably include a pretty large percentage of the students if you include all of the extracurricular activities out there. Over in Goshen County, where the use of alcohol and drugs has been either the highest or one of the highest in our state in recent years, the leaders decided that this is exactly what they needed to do to discourage students from using drugs.
Quite a few students and their parents thought that perhaps this gesture might rather discourage people from extracurricular activities instead, and so they brought a lawsuit against Goshen County School District. They believed that this procedure violated students’ constitutional rights to equal protection and due process, as well as against unreasonable search and seizure.
Well, the Wyoming Supreme Court upheld the School District’s decision, thinking that the school district should be allowed the leeway to deal with the problem of drug abuse there. Justice James Burke said, "School districts in Wyoming have ‘wide discretion in the management of the district's affairs,' and this Court ‘will not interfere with an honest exercise of discretion by public boards or officers.'” He was quoting from earlier policy decisions.
It’s likely that we will see more of this type of action, as non-drug users everywhere try their hardest to make teens think once, twice, even three times before just giving it a try. Maybe if their football or drama opportunity is on the line, they’ll step back.
