Schools initiate nicotine screening

BURLEY, Idaho – The Cassia County School Board says its schools will begin testing some student athletes for nicotine in an effort to measure tobacco use.

The board voted this week to implement nonpunitive screening for nicotine of half of the athletes already undergoing random drug and alcohol testing required by the district. Board officials say the data collected in the first round of testing will be used to determine whether to expand the program, including cheerleaders and dance teams.

Doug Whipple, attorney for the school district, said testing students for nicotine is a novel idea in Idaho. To justify a broader policy, Whipple said, the board must determine if tobacco use among athletes is a significant local problem and testing is an appropriate tool to address it.

“We are on the cutting edge of this,” Whipple said.

Cassia County School District Superintendent Gaylen Smyer said Wednesday that prior to the beginning of the winter sports season all student athletes will undergo drug and alcohol testing as part of the district’s policy.

“Once the athletes make the team they will be randomly tested throughout the season,” Smyer said. “When the athletes are randomly tested, 50 percent of the tests will check for the presence of nicotine.”

Some small-scale nicotine testing has already been done on district athletes, according to Jody Prewitt, co-owner of Mobile Drug Screen, which contracts to do the district’s drug and alcohol tests.

She told the board Tuesday that two random samples were taken during routine drug and alcohol tests, and in one group of four students each one tested positive for nicotine. In a separate group of four, two tested positive.

The board agreed the small sample group does not supply enough data for the board to make a policy decision and requested that Mobile Drug Screen begin screening half of the tested athletes for nicotine.