In 1995, the Supreme Court made a groundbreaking decision in the case of Vernonia School District v. Acton, a case that asked whether or not the drug testing of student athletes at a school in Oregon was reasonable under the Fourth amendment. The Supreme Court upheld the school's policy, noting that the state's interest in preventing drug addiction among students was compelling given the alarming increase in the use of drugs at the school in question, that student athletes have a decreased expectation of privacy, are student leaders, and are at risk for physical harm if practicing sports while intoxicated. Since then, a number of public school districts across the country have decided to test the boundaries of that opinion.

In the case Earls v. Board of Educ. of Tecumseh Public School Dist. (now entitled Bd. of Education of Pottawatomie County v. Earls) high school students in the Tecumseh Public School District in Oklahoma challenged the constitutionality of their high school's mandatory drug testing policy that required that all high school students participating in non-athletic extracurricular activities- whether academic, artistic, vocational, or otherwise - submit to drug tests. The drug testing is mandated even though there is no suspicion that any of the students tested had ever used an illegal drug, or absent any evidence that the school had a widespread drug problem. The Federal Court of Appeals in the 10th Circuit held that the drug testing policy at issue violated students' Fourth Amendment rights.

Drug Policy Alliance Network represented the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Education Association, the American Public Health Association, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and several other prominent national organizations in an amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court in this case. These organizations - devoted to the health and well-being of adolescents - all oppose suspicionless drug testing of high school students engaged in extracurricular activities. Such a drug testing policy, these experts contend, is aimed at the students least likely to get in trouble with drugs (those engaged in after school programs) and will likely scare away the youth most at risk of drug use from participating in programs that are proven protections against drug use

In June 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Oklahoma school's policy, opening the doors for suspicionless drug testing of students who wish to participate in extracurricular activities around the country.  Drug Policy Alliance, in response to this decision, created a website for parents, teachers and other adults concerned about the expansion of drug testing in schools.  More information about the case is available on www.drugtestingfails.org.

Other legal briefs, a discussion of the constitutional issues involved in such drug testing policies, and additional background information about the Earls case can be found on the ACLU's Earls Web page.

The ACLU has challenged other school drug testing policies. In one such case, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a Texas school's mandatory drug testing policy for all students.

For the second year in a row the Office of National Drug Control Policy is hosting summits promoting the expansion of student drug testing in cities throughout the country. Visit our online toolkit to speak out in against student drug testing in Dallas, St. Louis, Pittsburg and Portland.