NCJ Number
116379
Journal
University of Kansas Law Review Volume: 36 Issue: 4 Dated: (Summer 1988) Pages: 787-821
Date Published
1988
Length
35 pages
Annotation
This discussion of the incidence and use of drugs by both professional and college athletes and the incidence and future of drug testing concludes that programs involving testing for reasonable cause are likely to be negotiated, especially if coupled with counseling for those who test positive and educational programs for all athletes.
Abstract
The problem of drug abuse is more visible in athletics than in society as a whole. Many physicians and counselors contend that athletes use drugs because they believe that drugs will enhance their athletic performance. Major issues in drug testing in professional sports are whether antidrug programs are mandatory or permissive subjects of collective bargaining, whether contract remedies may be used to control drug abuse in the presence or absence of a drug testing program, and whether testing infringes players' constitutional rights. The drug testing programs adopted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association and individual schools also present constitutional issues related to search and seizure, equal protection, privacy, self-incrimination, and due process. Thus, attempts to deal with athletes' drug use by drug testing with punitive consequences will be tempered by challenges based on constitutional, labor, and collective bargaining grounds. Programs focusing on counseling and education along with testing for reasonable cause will help college athletics meet its goal of combining athletics and academics in the educational mission of higher education. 306 footnotes.