In recent action of the state, Californiahas allowed anyone over the age of 21 to be able to use Marijuana recreationally.With this new law there has been the exception of having a marijuana medicalcard to use this ONLY for medical purposes. All being said, the Petaluma schoolDistrict has proposed a new plan to anyone who decides to participate in anytype of after school extra-curricular, to be required to take a drug test.
The after school activities are stillrelated to the school and if anything were to happen then that school would beheld reliable. Having the new proposal by the school district, it has theability to make the school a cleaner and more safe environment around drugs. Butthere is a downside for this as well. There are kids that are very ill and relyon the amount of substance needed to keep them stable in order to get throughthe day. As well as if there are kids on this team that are all-state,all-county, all-American athletes then, what would the teams do without them ifthose special kids were to be kicked off of the team. These medical cards willmake it very difficult for the administration to determine whether it is corrector not to punish kids with medical cards.
Being drug tested can cause a sense ofsecurity to the students and can limit the problem for other students. The feelingof safety not only by their school but by the parents who are sending theirkids to these schools, making it a safer environment and community for everyone.Although it can make those in the community feel safe, those who are being drugtested may feel a sense of violation in student rights. But looking at the biggerpicture, the feeling of your rights being violated is worth the cost of stoppingthe drug use where your life could end and then there would be no rights foranyone to violate. Those who are using drugs put themselvesat risk and possibly risk not having the ability to graduate or if used tomuch, then to have a life either. I have personally seen what drugs can do to someonefirst hand and to be see how just the smallest test can turn into an addictionis sad. Just “trying” it, can cause someone to become an abusive user and eventuallykill someone from the inside out.
Using drug tests will be able to identify theproblem hopefully sooner than later and be able to find a solution/alternativefor the user. In conclusion, there are more questionsthan answers to the drug policy for extracurricular activities but the good canonly come from the bad. Positively speaking on the drug test behalf, detectingthe substance and the deterrence is better used if taken seriously sooner thanlater, also helping to more along the process of rehabilitation. Negativelyspeaking, some may feel a sense of violation in their privacy, causing the deathof one if using too much, and the worst is to falsely accuse someone of usingor having a problem with drugs if they really don’t.