By Sapna Pathak
Staff Writer

Observer/Bruce Preston A December 2004 study by the Centers for Disease Control called the “Youth Risk Behavior Survey” showed the rate of drug use in New Hampshire is on the rise – compared to a decrease in nationwide numbers.

One and done In the spring of 1996, Conant High School was the first and only Granite State school to require random drug testing of its student athletes. By the end of the next school year, the program was scrapped due to voter opposition. Julius J. D'Agostino, the superintendent who supported the testing, resigned and his resignation was “widely suspected” to be related to the handling of the drug testing. “A group of parents, coaches, and myself came up with the idea,” said Jim Adams, Conant's athletics director. “There were a small group of people who caused enough uproar for a year, and it was discontinued.” Adams also said if he was given the chance to try the testing again, he would do so, even 10 years later. — Sapna Pathak

The question makes for great debate in the Granite State: Should high school athletes be subjected to random drug testing?

In June 1995, the United States Supreme Court decided high schools could administer drug tests at any time, as a condition of an athlete's participation in school sports.

However, New Hampshire school officials list several reasons for resisting drug tests, despite recent studies showing drug use among Granite State teens is among the highest in the country.

“Two respected federal surveys showed New Hampshire among the highest in marijuana use,” said Hopkinton's Katherine Merrow, senior research analyst at the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies in Concord.

The studies, the schools In December '04, Merrow looked at the results from the Centers for Disease Control's Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and a study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Merrow determined 31 to 50 percent of New Hampshire teens tried marijuana. Among youth nationwide, those numbers were between 20 and 40 percent.

In addition, the rate of drug use in the state is increasing – in contrast to a national decrease.

Last month, the state's Department of Education received the results of the latest YRBS taken in 2005. Forty-six New Hampshire high schools participated in the '05 study. Along with the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 27 schools participated in a separate survey that included the entire student body rather than a small sample.

“Instead of 1,276 YRBS surveys, we have over 17,000 DHHS surveys,” said Jeffrey Metzger, senior management analyst at the Division of Health and Human Services. “This gives a better picture of what's going on in the school. The results are consistent with that of the smaller sample, so it's almost a validation of the CDC data.”

More than half of students who took the Youth Risk Behavior Survey – 56.7 percent, that's roughly 700 students – said they played one or more school sports within the past year.

Using the low end of Merrow's YRBS information – 31 percent – roughly 225 studentathletes tried marijuana. That's a best-case scenario.

Still, there are several reasons for a statewide reluctance to drug test student-athletes.

The financial factor A standard drug test costs between $20 and $30, while a steroid test costs $100.

“Funding's always a problem here,” said Jim Kaufman, athletics director of Bow High School. “Personally, I think these tests are private and difficult to implement.”

Dave Gosselin, athletics director of Manchester's three public high schools, said it's tough enough to receive funding for books. He wonders how the school board would pay for drug tests.

“We're educators, we're parents, we're social services, we're psychologists,” said Gosselin. “Where's mom and dad?”

Who's responsible?

Lyonel Tracy, commissioner of education for the state of New Hampshire, was one of the first to receive the YRBS results.

“It's definitely a local problem,” said Tracy. “We can't answer how each school addresses the issue. So far we haven't promoted a statewide policy. Our job is to identify, manage and supply the results.”

Despite seeing the results, Tracy maintained it's not the Department of Education's responsibility to suggest or implement a policy for any school.

Principal George Edwards said Bow High wasn't asked to take the school-wide DHHS survey. Still, he requested and received permission to take it privately at no cost to the school.

Approximately 450 Bow students, not including the senior class, took the survey in June '05.

Nearly one-third, or 31 percent, said they used alcohol in the past 30 days. In that time, 17 percent said they smoked marijuana. Furthermore, 60 percent of students said they had one or more drinks of alcohol during their lifetimes.

With this information, Bow's principal came to two conclusions. On the one hand, Edwards said it's a problem if just one student abuses drugs or alcohol. On the other hand, he said there wasn't enough evidence to seriously consider random drug testing.

“Only 17 percent said they'd had marijuana,” said Edwards. “Give or take, in spring maybe 50 percent were athletes. So no, I don't think that's enough to subject all athletes, or one subgroup, to tests.”

Edwards also said schools are not responsible for keeping track of students using illegal substances outside of school; most drug use occurs after school hours.

Edwards wasn't the only principal to question the community's role and, more specifically, a parent's part, in addressing – and solving – the problem.

Salem High Principal Bill Hagen dealt with an alcohol-related incident involving SHS cheerleaders in November '05, after photographs showed the minors attending – in cheer uniforms – a party with alcohol. Hagen maintains it's not the school's job to test athletes.

“What happened on Myspace.com (with the cheerleaders) was all done outside of the school house,” Hagen said. “Isn't it the parents' job to find out if their kids are doing something wrong outside of school?”

The first-year principal said the school offers different avenues to educate parents on substance abuse, including a freshman-parent orientation and a program to help parents stay informed of their children's nonschool activities.

SHS didn't take part in either survey. Hagen said he wasn't familiar with them.

All three Manchester public schools took part in the schoolwide DHHS survey. Metzger condensed the results into one report covering Central, Memorial and West.

Gosselin, the Manchester AD, recognizes the problem of drug use by students. But he, too, said the responsibility rests with parents.

“It's happening in Bedford, in Manchester, in Hooksett – kids are drinking and smoking,” said Gosselin. “But say we (drug test) the athletes. What about the other kids?”

Prevent or react?

“If I have no reason to pull a kid aside, I don't see why it's needed,” said Salem's Hagen. “You're always looking for new ways to solve the problem, but not at the expense of every kid.”

Hagen added he doesn't support the idea of random drug testing as a means to “scare” his athletes to just say no.

According to Jointogether.com, an '03 study by researchers at Oregon Health and Sciences University compared two Oregon high schools. Only one of the two schools randomly tested student-athletes.

Observer/Bruce Preston Based on research done by Southern New Hampshire University’s Dr. Kim Bogle in 2005, “high school athletes use more marijuana, cocaine and smokeless tobacco, and have more sexual partners than non-athletes.”

Open to options Late last year, John Stark Regional High School decided to allow drug-sniffing dogs into its halls. The idea was to rein in drug use among students. Supertintendent Dr. Christine Tyrie said she strongly believes schools are a reflection of their communities. The idea of random drug testing has never come up among John Stark's school board, according to Tyrie. But she said she'd support the issue if that's what parents want. “It's almost as easy to get pot as it is to get tobacco,” said Jeffrey Metzger of the Department of Health and Human Services. “The difference is just 7 percent in the two.” Nearly 90 percent of New Hampshire students said their parents feel it's wrong to smoke marijuana. But only 58 percent of those students think it's wrong to light up. — Sapna Pathak

Results showed student-athletes tested were four times less likely to use drugs than their non-tested peers. Athletes were also three times less likely to say they used performance-enhancing drugs.

Pat Corbin, executive director of the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association (NHIAA), said the state doesn't have a universal athletics code for students to sign. Instead, each school creates its own policy.

“That's the whole ‘Live Free or Die' thing here,” said Corbin. “We can't make a blanket policy because schools won't agree. Everyone wants to deal with things locally, so that kind of limits what the NHIAA can do.”

Although some school officials maintain it's the parents' job to demand drug testing, none interviewed are willing to propose random drug testing to elicit community feedback.

“You don't want to jump off a cliff by yourself,” said Bill Whitmore, athletics director at Concord High where 64 of approximately 1,500 students took the YRBS. “There's national and state organizations also looking at the issue, and it's been mentioned. But we've never given it serious consideration.”

Dan Meserve, Hopkinton High athletics director, said he understands illegal drug abuse is a high school problem.

“We have a co-curricular agreement that bans illegal drugs,” said Meserve. “I meet with each team at the beginning of each season and make things clear.”

Hopkinton didn't participate in either survey, the small-sample or school-wide study.

The school's principal, Steve Chamberlin, said cost was the reason.

“We took it in ‘03, looked at the results, and hired a drug and alcohol counselor as part of what we saw,” said Chamberlin. “Last year, we did our own survey to try and gauge where we stood.”

That survey showed 34 percent of Hopkinton students experimented with substances in general; 22 percent abuse them regularly.

Chamberlin said the issue of drug testing isn't simple. He doesn't know if he could propose such a requirement.

“I have a hard time going up to a kid who's never touched alcohol and asking him to pee in a cup,” said Chamberlin. “If we test kids, why are we doing it? No matter what, it's still a violation (of a student's right to privacy), even though it's constitutional. At my workplace, they don't test me. But if you want to argue that it can help, I'm all ears.”

According to 2005 research done by Dr. Kim Bogle of Southern New Hampshire University, high school athletes use more marijuana, cocaine and smokeless tobacco, and have more sexual partners, than non-athletes.

“Schools don't wanna know about the bad things athletes are doing,” said Bogle. “It's become so accepted for athletes to behave this way. No one says anything.”