Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Washington State Supreme Court Thursday reversed a lower court ruling and declared random drug testing of student athletes unconstitutional.

The Wahkiakum school board in southwest Washington approved the policy in 1999 to curb student drug use.  Students in middle and high schools had to agree to random urine tests to take part in after-school sports.

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld similar programs.  ACLU of Washington spokesperson Doug Honig says the tests are a violation of privacy under the state constitution.

Doug Honig: “What we’re talking about here is suspicionless drug testing. That means the school district was asking students to submit their urine without any reason to believe that they had done anything wrong. And the court recognized that under our constitution there’s not justification for this.”

The decision also challenges national drug control policy.  Federal officials visited Seattle earlier this year hoping to expand random drug testing to more schools.

Following Thursday’s ruling, a spokesperson for the Lake Stevens school district northeast of Seattle said its program will be put on hold.