NCJ Number
129556
Journal
Journal of College and University Law Volume: 16 Issue: 3 Dated: (1990) Pages: 397-424
Date Published
1990
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article identifies the constitutional principles that courts are likely to apply to drug testing of college athletes and relates these principles to medical and sociological data concerning the problem of drug use by student athletes so as to develop a model policy for a university drug testing program.
Abstract
The article concludes that drug testing, even with consent, is a "search" within the meaning of the fourth amendment. For such a search to be "reasonable" under the fourth amendment, the need to make such an intrusion must outweigh the degree of the intrusion. This "balancing" test requires a fact-specific analysis, especially of the scientific and psycho-social considerations relevant to the "need to intrude" side of the balance. Such a fact-specific analysis indicates that the need to intrude is greatest in regard to "performance-enhancing" drugs, such as steroids, and justifies (in the absence of a less intrusive alternative) random warrantless searches. Regarding "street drugs," such as heroin and cocaine, only a reasonable suspicion or probable cause justifies the intrusion, and various procedural safeguards designed to guarantee the reliability of the testing process will safeguard the due-process rights of an athlete. 130 footnotes