Marijuana Policy Project

Four Tests Come Back Positive, Three for THC

It would appear that the large majority of Morgan County High School students are heeding First Lady Nancy Reagan’s timeless words.

At the conclusion of the first year of random drug testing at the school, a program funded completely by the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department through the use of seized drug money, more than 97 percent of students tested for illegal substances were clean, according to teacher and coach Anne Stamps, who presented the results of the initial year of testing to the Board of Education Monday night.

In total, 146 Morgan County High School students were randomly chosen to be drug tested, with four of those tests coming back positive. Of the four positive tests, three indicated the presence of THC, the chemical present in marijuana that gives the user the feeling of being "high," while one indicated the presence of propoxyphene, which would "indicate some sort of pain killer,"  Stamps said.

Per the Board Policy on Student Drug Use, adopted in May of last year, students who wish to participate in Georgia High School Association (GHSA) activities as well as parking permit holders are required to agree to the testing, and must sign a consent form. A "First Positive" would result in, in the case of student-athletes, suspension from 10 percent of the team’s games or contests and/or, in the case of students holding parking permits, suspension from parking at school for 18 consecutive days. Additionally, the student and student’s parents or legal guardians must provide proof that the student is taking part in an administration-approved drug counseling program, and must have the student re-tested at their personal expense. Should the student be part of the "Free and Reduced Lunch" program, the cost of the re-test is picked up through program funding.

This procedure was followed in each of this year’s four cases, Stamps said.

As far as the program itself, the drug testing (which requires a urine sample and can detect amphetamines, barbiturates, marijuana, cocaine, opiates and propoxyphene) was conducted monthly at the school (teachers are present simply to supervise students) by the lab at Morgan Memorial Hospital, which was responsible not only for administering the test (lab employees turned off the water to the school’s bathroom and dyed the toilet water to prevent cheating) and processing the results, but also for the random selection of students each month through the use of student identification numbers (not Social Security numbers).

Selections were sent off to the school the day, or sometimes, morning before samples were collected. Further, the number of students tested differed each month; as many as 40 and as few as 10 were tested.

Pleased with the report, board chairman Nelson Hale called the program "pro-active," while board member Dave Belton lauded the school’s Athletic Department "for dreaming this [program] up."

"I’ve heard kids on my softball team say they won’t use drugs because they’re scared they might get caught," Stamps said.

Stamps reported that two schools considering implementing a similar program have already contacted her, one of them in Oconee County where she is set to speak to that Board of Education at a later date.