Free Republic

<p>A new federal rule has plumbers across the state boiling mad, because they have to go through costly training and drug tests in order to qualify to work on home gas lines.</p> <p>The federal Department of Transportation edict went into effect Oct. 28, though it was promulgated three years ago, and it requires that all personnel who work on residential gas lines, from the street to the home, must obtain the new certification and agree to drug testing.</p>

Dole Links License To Drug Test Elizabeth Dole wants to require all teenagers to pass a drug test before getting a driver's license. Dole, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate and a former transportation secretary, has promised to push for a federal law pressuring states to enforce such a measure. "Wouldn't that help them understand how important it is to be drug free?" Dole asked at a recent campaign stop in Washington, N.C. "It's not cool (to abuse drugs). It kills." Then-President Bill Clinton proposed a nearly identical measure in 1996 while campaigning against Dole's husband, former Sen. Bob Dole, and...

A federal judge has struck down rules that required drug companies to test their products in children. The rules were intended to give doctors and parents more information about the drugs' safety and the proper dosage. "The pediatric rule exceeds the Food and Drug Administration's statutory authority and is therefore invalid," said Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. of the Federal District Court here. In the ruling, issued on Thursday, Judge Kennedy said that the food and drug agency was overreaching, just as when it tried to regulate tobacco products. In both cases, he said, the agency's rules were inconsistent with...

New Frontier in Random Drug Testing: Checking High Schoolers for Tobacco Breath mints won't cut it anymore for students who have been smoking in the bathroom -- some schools around the country are administering urine tests to teenagers to find out whether they have been using tobacco. Opponents say such testing violates students' rights and can keep them out of the extracurricular activities they need to stay on track. But some advocates say smoking in the boys' room is a ticket to more serious drug use. "Some addicted drug users look back to cigarettes as the start of it all,"...

PLAYERS AGREE TO STEROID TEST NEW YORK - Baseball players dropped their decades-old opposition to mandatory drug testing, agreeing to be checked for illegal steroids starting next year. Under Wednesday's proposal, which addresses one of the key issues in contract talks, players would be subjected to one or more unannounced tests in 2003 to determine the level of steroid use. If the survey showed "insignificant" use, a second round of tests would be set up in 2004 to verify the results. If more than 5 percent of the tests were positive in either survey, players would be randomly tested for...

<p>WASHINGTON — "Folks, it's saleable, but we have to stand up and sell it."</p> <p>That pitch Thursday morning came from Rep. John Peterson as he fervently hawked expanded drug testing in the schools. "We need to raise this debate nationally," the Pennsylvania Republican declared. "Testing makes a huge difference. Testing can help parents know when their kids are in trouble. Testing can help schools know when they have a lot of kids doing drugs. Kids will know that if they do drugs, they will get help."</p>

BOARD OF ED. OF INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST.NO. 92 OF POTTAWATOMIE CTY. V. EARLS (01-332) Web-accessible at: http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/01-332.ZS.html Argued March 19, 2002 -- Decided June 27, 2002 Opinion author: Thomas =============================================================== The Student Activities Drug Testing Policy (Policy) adopted by the Tecumseh, Oklahoma, School District (School District) requires all middle and high school students to consent to urinalysis testing for drugs in order to participate in any extracurricular activity. In practice, the Policy has been applied only to competitive extracurricular activities sanctioned by the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association (OSSAA). Respondent high school students and their parents brought this 42 U.S....

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/06/27/national1005EDT0546.DTL (06-27) 07:05 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court approved random drug tests for many public high school students Thursday, ruling that schools' interest in ridding their campuses of drugs outweighs an individual's right to privacy. The 5-4 decision would allow the broadest drug testing the court has yet permitted for young people whom authorities have no particular reason to suspect of wrongdoing. It applies to students who join competitive after-school activities or teams, a category that includes many if not most middle-school and high-school students. Previously these tests had been allowed only for student athletes. ©2002 Associated...

ALTURAS, Calif. -- Seab McDonald doesn't care what outsiders think: He's convinced there's a dangerous teenage drug problem in this folksy, far-removed corner of Northern California. And the gray-haired community patriarch wants to put a stop to it now. So McDonald and other members of the Modoc Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees are leaning toward taking a gamble they know could bring them unwanted notoriety and even lawsuits. With the U.S. Supreme Court signaling it may soon let public schools expand drug testing beyond student athletes to include those involved in any after-school activity, Modoc officials will vote...