Tennessee State Attorney General Bob Cooper released an opinion (PDF) on July 2 that called for the prohibition of random student drug testing in the state. He held that random drug testing violates the controlling Tennessee statute that allows drug testing of a student only when there is reasonable suspicion of drug use to the principal. The Tennessee statute sets standards of reasonableness.

Cooper clarified that his ruling does not conflict with the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the federal Constitution in the Vernonia and Pottawatomie cases on student drug testing. The Tennessee statute simply provides the individual student with more protections against search and seizure than the U.S. Constitution.

Though this decision does not directly ban districts from conducting tests, it does leave them open to lawsuits. A survey by The Tennessean conducted last year found that of the 137 high schools in the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, 40 have drug testing policies.

Many schools have already called off their testing programs. For others, the opinion still serves as a stern warning. It could also affect the standing of federal drug testing grant applicants such as Williamson County, which recently applied for a $560,000 federal grant to begin a drug testing program this fall.