Random Drug Testing

More than 100 Baltimore County high school teachers met at the Holiday Inn in Timonium yesterday to discuss an addition to the county's curriculum that officials hope will send a clear message to high school students regarding drug abuse.The curriculum, which was written by teachers in 1990, will incorporate drug education into students' regular social studies classes. Ninth-graders will learn about drugs and their relationship with government roles and social behavior, while 12th-graders will study moral and public policy issues related to drugs.

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court cleared the way yesterday for the government to require random drug testing of public employees who have access to locations with tight security, such as the White House.In a brief order, the court turned aside the first case involving drug testing as a requirement for entering a government facility that is generally closed to the public.At issue was a sweeping order by the Office of Management and Budget, covering all workers with passes to enter the Old Executive Office Building -- a part of the White House complex.

WHAT VICE can't be practiced in Maryland's prisons? That's the question you'd have to ask yourself after reading Sun reporter Greg Garland's account of contraband seized from the state's nine largest prisons. Drugs (heroin, crack and marijuana), tobacco (loose and rolled), alcohol (store-bought and prison-brewed), pornography (DVDs and tapes), condoms and cell phones represent most of the stash seized over a recent 10-month stretch. That doesn't include the shanks and knives inmates craft on their own. The extent of the goods recovered might suggest that prison officials are on top of the smuggling, but their inability to efficiently quantify the results of surprise cell searches and prison sweeps complicates their efforts.

A Carroll County man, who pleaded guilty in November to cocaine distribution charges, received a suspended 20-year prison sentence yesterday because he helped prosecutors convict several drug dealers. Tyrone Wilford, 34, was arrested in August after law enforcement authorities began cracking down on an open-air drug market on Westminster's west side. Known as Operation Sullivan, the crackdown led to 60 arrests on drug-related charges. According to the plea bargain, Wilford agreed to testify against other drug dealers.

It sounds like an idea for a Saturday Night Live sketch, but if England's Olympics minister has her way, you could see male synchronized swimming at the London Games in 2012. Tessa Jowell wants an end to "gender inequality" in the Olympics - having competitions open to only one sex. So that could mean women boxing and men waving that wand in rhythmic gymnastics. "I think it's wrong that women can't compete in as many events as men," Jowell told Britain's Daily Mail. "Women's sport has come on leaps and bounds, so it's high time there was equal opportunity at the Olympics."

IF A CANDIDATE for political office flunked a drug test, voters would likely take a dim view of his suitability for office. But do voters care more about drug test results or basic constitutional rights? Last month, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a Georgia case in which three candidates for office challenged a state law that requires candidates to take a urine test and certify that it did not show the presence of illegal drugs.The plaintiffs argued that the law violates the Fourth Amendment prohibition of unreasonable searches, and questions from the justices suggested that they are inclined to agree.

Washington -- I have won an Emmy and other prizes for my television reports and writings about the curse of drug abuse in America.I have lost sleep over the nightmarish delivery-room sight of a beautiful teen-ager delivering a heroin-addicted baby -- a teen-ager who became addicted to heroin in high school.I have supported and begged for government and private programs of treatment, personal support and law enforcement to ease drug sicknesses that ruin so many promising lives.But I have never imagined that the U.S. Supreme Court would think some solution to the drug problem might lie in forced, random urine tests for high school athletes who have never been accused or suspected of using drugs.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Orioles right fielder Jay Gibbons has taken over as the team's player representative this season, making him a point man for all matters concerning the Major League Baseball Players Association, but that wasn't the reason reporters kept approaching his locker yesterday. The latest news in baseball's steroid scandal had hit, with a report in the San Francisco Chronicle saying All-Star sluggers Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield allegedly had received steroids distributed by a Bay Area nutritional supplement lab. That could only mean more scrutiny for the rest of baseball, and as the Orioles' resident strongman, Gibbons could see the questions coming like 95-mph fastballs aimed directly at his Popeye-sized forearms.

WASHINGTON -- Capitol Hill is in a reform-oriented mood these days, and members of Congress already have introduced dozens of bills, including many that could directly affect federal employees.Much of the legislation has been seen in the past in one permutation or another.Some bills -- changing the Hatch Act, for example -- are enthusiastically supported by most federal workers, while others, such as a bill to institute random drug testing, are bound to encounter opposition from federal employee unions and other advocates.

Gotten your federal user-fee tax stamp yet? If you want to start a fight at the local yacht club or waterfront eatery, all you have to do is bring up the subject of the recreational user fee.As of yesterday, the stamps or stickers must be affixed to your recreational vessel. Commercial vessels are exempt, but they get nailed from another direction. More on that later.I was terribly surprised Wednesday when a boater asked me about this user-tax thing. I said, "You mean the federal user-fee sticker?"