# drug testing in schools

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-testing-in-schools/33298>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [September 15, 2000, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-testing-in-schools/33298 "2000-09-15T14:36:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2000, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drug-testing-in-schools/33298/21 "2000-09-16T21:15:40Z")

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**PowerpuffKue** :

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> Boxing: If I kicked out athletes from boxing then I’d be for cutting the whole football team. Football is just as dangerous as boxing.

Well, exactly! If you care about the students’ health, why are you letting them play sports at all?

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> With your ultra cautious examples your making great points to cut all sports teams, and PE classes. No track because you can sprain your ankle, no baseball because you run into the catcher, no volleyball because you can crack your head on the hard floor, no tennis because you can be abducted by aliens and they can take you to Mars.

Yes. I’m making two points: 1. If you want to address athletes’ health, you have to look a lot farther than drugs, and 2. drugs don’t have the health impact you think they do, at least with regard to sports.

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> Eating too much red meat: I don’t think heart failure is common in teenage athletes.

Neither are emphysema and liver failure, but that doesn’t seem to stop you from kicking out athletes who smoke or drink.

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> The school physical: There is no 5 minute mile (to my knowledge) in their physical.

But there must be some physical tests that measure how well someone can play football. Or is it more of a non-physical? Do they let anyone on the team, no matter how out of shape they are?

You should be asking “does this person have the necessary physical health and ability to play sports”, not “does this person use substances that might possibly impair his ability to play, but likely won’t”. In fact, a drug test doesn’t measure whether he uses drugs regularly or often at all… only whether he has done so within the past month.

I notice that you say nothing about the doctor’s note. Again, since you say you support drug testing for athletes’ health: Would you still kick someone off the team if a doctor determined that his use of alcohol/tobacco/drugs didn’t affect his ability to safely play sports? If so, why?

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