Drug Testing - What are the benefits and drawbacks of drug testing?

Drug testing is often a controversial issue. One indication of this controversy is the number of court cases involving drug testing. There are clearly two sides to this issue.

The following information is excerpted from Coaches Guide to Drugs and Sport by Kevin R. Ringhofer, PhD, and Martha E. Harding. Copyright © 1996 by Human Kinetics. This information provides a brief overview of some of the commonly perceived benefits and drawbacks to drug testing athletes. Although this information is primarily directed at drug testing of athletes, some of the same reasons could apply to other school activity participants. However, the Supreme Court has only upheld drug testing of athletes. (See What are the legal issues?)

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BENEFITS OF DRUG TESTING

Drug testing in athletics is usually intended to check for substances that could either provide an unfair advantage over those who do not use them or contribute to problems in the individual's life, including impaired athletic performance. People who have implemented drug testing believe that the following benefits will be realized by this approach.

Easier to Detect Drug Use Among Athletes
Usually athletes who use drugs are healthy and are not experiencing significant problems because of drug use. For some athletes, their superior physical abilities may mask any decline in performance. These factors may make detecting drug use difficult. With technological advances, drug testing can provide an additional and, sometimes, more definitive method of detecting the use of controlled or illegal substances.

May Be a Deterrent
The threat of positive detection and the resulting consequences may deter or prevent some individuals from using these substances. As covered in chapter 4, a rule has a more deterrent effect if there is consistent enforcement. Drug testing may boost the athletes' perceptions that they are likely to be found out if they violate a rule.

Levels the Playing Field
Testing for substances that may alter performance is done to ensure that competitive events are won or lost because of the physical and mental skills of the athletes rather than by an advantage gained from drug use. If drugs enhance performance, prohibiting their use and testing for them may be a way to eliminate the possible advantage that an opponent may gain by using them. Drug testing may also be a means of determining whether or not individuals are eligible to receive awards for a performance or to participate in future activities.

Identification and Referral
In other instances, drug testing may be used to identify and refer for appropriate help those individuals who may be having problems with the use of drugs. Some programs also use drug testing to ensure that an athlete remains free of the use of drugs after returning from a treatment program or after having been previously found to be using illegal drugs.

DRAWBACKS OF TESTING

Many of those who have implemented drug-testing programs -- as well as those who have chosen not to -- have identified the following drawbacks to drug testing.

Mixed Messages
Schools rarely test for all drugs, including tobacco and alcohol (the most commonly used drugs by adolescents). Focusing only on illicit drugs may give the message that these are the only drugs that concern the school. Testing for drugs based on a belief that drugs enhance performance can also send a mixed message. It may send the message that to perform better, an athlete should consider using performance-altering drugs.

Negative Reaction
Even those who are supportive of a prevention, education, or intervention program may be opposed to drug testing because they perceive that it violates an individual's rights. Some athletes say that drug testing makes them feel that they are guilty until they prove themselves innocent. Thus, testing may be viewed as a punitive measure for those suspected of use and is likely to be met with opposition.

Drug Testing Can Be Divisive
Consider how a drug-testing program can interfere with the underlying climate that you are working to establish through prevention efforts: a caring community, respect for students, and cooperation among staff, students, and families. Drug testing can create a barrier among athletes, their parents, and the school. Drug testing can pit administration and staff against students, as well as place the administration against coaches who do not believe in testing. Drug testing can set one group -- athletes -- against other groups in the school. Unless students who are involved in other cocurricular activities are tested, what are we saying about athletes? Are athletes more important than students who participate in other cocurricular activities? Do they have more problems than those who participate in other cocurricular activities? Unless we expand a testing program to include all students, are we saying that participants in cocurricular activities are more important than the entire student population?

Cost
Testing many students for all drugs is expensive. Funds may have to be diverted from other, more positive prevention approaches.

Labeling Athletes
People can come to the wrong conclusions based on the results of the tests -- whether positive or negative. These erroneous conclusions can be harmful to individual athletes and your prevention efforts. When tests come back positive, people can make the assumption that an athlete is addicted to drugs. When tests come back negative, people can assume that the athlete is a nonuser. In fact, the only thing that these tests show is whether or not an athlete was using a particular drug during a particular time frame. For some drugs, such as alcohol, the time frame can be extremely short. If the majority of tests come back negative, the assumption can be made that there is no problem with drug use in athletics, and some people may be tempted to drop other prevention efforts.

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The above material was excerpted by permission of Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL from Coaches Guide to Drugs and Sport by Kevin R. Ringhofer, PhD, and Martha E. Harding. Copyright © 1996 by Human Kinetics. Available in bookstores or by calling 1-800-747-4457. $18.95 plus shipping/handling. This book is also the textbook used the in the "Drugs and Sport" coaching education courses for the National Federation Interscholastic Coaches Education Program (NFICEP) and the American Sport Education Program (ASEP).