Drug and alcohol use has been prevalent among student-athletes for years. Weekend parties were, and still are, the norm.
The only way a student-athlete has ever been penalized in the past is by getting caught red-handed or turned in by a fellow student.
All that will change when school resumes in the fall, as Carson and Douglas high schools become the third and fourth schools in Nevada to go to mandatory drug testing of its student-athletes.
Green Valley High School in Henderson and McQueen in Reno currently drug test through Sport Safe Testing Service Inc., located in Powell, Ohio. The company does drug-testing at 70 school districts around the country.
The $20,000 program at Carson High is paid through a grant from Partnership Carson City, according to athletic director Bob Bateman. Besides testing for drugs, testing can detect alcohol in the body for up to 70 hours.
Chris Franz, president of Sport Safe, will be at the high school at
6 p.m. Tuesday for parents and athletes to ask questions about the testing program.
Bateman said approximately 25 to 30 student-athletes will be urine tested weekly or bi-weekly. Students will be chosen at random, and they won't know they will be tested until they are pulled out of class. Parents are notified within 72 hours if their son or daughter fails a drug test.
"Basically, it's a no news is good news," Franz said.
If a student is on campus, but isn't available when it's time to be tested, that will go down as testing positive. Students not in school on a day they are supposed to be tested will be tested at the next available testing time. Refusal to take the test will be treated as a positive result.
Penalties for a failed drug test, set up by the Nevada Interscholastic Athletic Association, the governing body of high school athletics, are:
- First offense: Six-week suspension, which can be reduced to two weeks if the student goes through counseling/education classes.
- Second offense: 60-day suspension.
- Third offense: Permanent ban on athletic participation.
Bateman said the testing is designed to create a safe, drug-free environment.
Both Bateman and Michelle Lewis, a dean at Carson High, believe peer pressure plays a huge role in alcohol and drug use, and that testing is a deterrent.
"In talking to people at McQueen, all of a sudden the athletes are doing things the right way," Bateman said. "They are not having to get drunk or get high to have a good time."
"It takes peer pressure off the kids," who, not wanting to fail a test and lose playing time, have a handy reason to just say no, Lewis said. "They have an out when it comes to risky behavior."
Blair Roman, Carson's head football coach, said he's wholeheartedly behind the program.
"I'm one of the biggest supporters of this," Roman said. "When I took over the program, it's one of the areas I wanted to focus on.
"In my opinion, it (substance use and possible abuse) has reached epidemic proportions.
Track coach Robert Maw also supports testing.
"I agree with it and like the philosophy behind it," Maw said. "They are trying to help the kids and let them know there are consequences for decisions they make during their lifetime.
"It will raise the level of accountability, and I think that's fine. There has been a lot of talk about it among our team."
Kyle Stone, a senior shortstop on the baseball team, was glad to see the drug testing instituted at Carson.
"I think it's a great idea," he said. "I can tell you that I've never taken a drink in my four years here. We do have some problems here on campus with some of our teams."
Mark Sinnott, a returning football player, agreed.
"I think it's a good idea," he said. "I don't think it's a huge problem, but it's still a problem. The testing gives you a reason not to do drugs or alcohol.
"I think it may stop anybody who plays a sport. You might lose a few people, too."
Bateman hasn't had any negative comments from parents.
"I think it's a good idea," said Saul Singer, whose son Jonathan is a senior of the golf team. "I think it's good to be out in front of this. The clinical side is a deterrent. In a way, that's a good thing. So many institutions from the juvenile justice system to high school have a zero tolerance. Basically, kids need to be heads-up all the time."