Why Americans should oppose mandatory
                         high school "drug" tests for cigarettes

                         WASHINGTON, DC -- A decision by an Alabama high school to
                         start doing "drug" tests on student athletes to detect cigarette
                         smoking -- a policy other schools around the USA are expected
                         to emulate soon -- shows that mandatory drug testing has
                         gotten out of hand, the Libertarian Party says.

                         "Even if you think teenagers and cigarettes don't mix,
                         subjecting students to mandatory blood tests to discourage
                         smoking is a drastic overreaction to the problem," said the
                         party's national director, Steve Dasbach.

                         "And given the poor performance of so many students, you can
                         make the case that public schools should be scheduling more
                         tests in math, English, and history -- and fewer tests for
                         cigarette smoking."

                         This semester, Hoover High School in Hoover, Alabama
                         announced it would begin a program of mandatory, random
                         blood tests of the 1,500 students in grades 7 to 12 who
                         participate in school athletic programs. Students can be tested
                         for 11 illegal drugs and alcohol -- and also for nicotine from
                         cigarettes and chewing tobacco.

                         Arguing that nicotine is a "mind-altering" substance, school
                         officials said athletes who test positive will be subject to
                         parental notification, mandatory tobacco education classes, and
                         then suspension from athletic events.

                         Anti-tobacco advocates predicted the program would quickly
                         spread to other government schools around the country.

                         Before it does, Americans should consider whether they really
                         want to escalate the federal government's unsuccessful "War on
                         Teenage Smoking" in this fashion, said Dasbach.

                         "So far, the only result of Washington, DC's decade-long crusade
                         against teenage smoking has been more teenage smoking," he
                         noted. "Between 1991 and 1997, smoking rates among high
                         school students increased by almost one-third, from 27.5% to
                         36.4%.

                         "Teenage smoking rates have dipped slightly in the last year,
                         but you can make the case that the more politicians huff and
                         puff about the evils of smoking, the more they tempt rebellious
                         teenagers to take up the habit. Why should this program be
                         different?"

                         Mandatory nicotine testing also blurs the distinction between
                         the dangers posed to teenagers by cigarettes versus the dangers
                         from drugs and alcohol, said Dasbach.

                         "While no one argues that in a perfect world, teenagers wouldn't
                         smoke, the idea that students should be drug-tested for a bad
                         habit that might cause illness or premature death in 50 years is
                         absurd," he said.

                         "More importantly, nicotine testing also deflects parents'
                         attention away from the more immediate dangers posed to
                         teenagers by alcohol and many illegal drugs. Surely, no sensible
                         person thinks that teenagers who smoke and drive are as much
                         at risk as teenagers who drink and drive."

                         Finally, mandatory blood tests for teenagers send a chilling
                         message to young people that they can be tested "like laboratory
                         animals" any time the government wants, said Dasbach.

                         "It would be nice if government schools taught students about
                         the Fourth Amendment -- which guarantees the right to be free
                         from unreasonable, warrantless searches -- instead of
                         subjecting students to unreasonable, warrantless blood testing,"
                         he said. "After all, a government powerful enough to mandate
                         blood tests for nicotine poses a greater danger to the long-term
                         well-being of American teenagers than puffing on a cigarette
                         ever will."