Slog - Comments on Making Sense of Craig Smith http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith I gotta hand it to sports writers. They create compelling narratives out of what is essentially the same story repeating again and again. They give meaning to the utterances of the inarticulate. They must be brilliant. Most of them. Craig Smith over at the Seattle Times proclaims that last week’s unanimous ruling by the state Supreme Court, banning random student drug testing, "lacks sense" and is a "defeat for common sense." The Justices decided that searching a student's bodily fluids was at least as invasive as searching their luggage, which requires reasonable suspicion. Justice Sanders wrote: "The urinalysis test is... Copyright 2008 Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:40:54 -0800 Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:36:00 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Maura I don't go looking for the sports page when I want good constitutional analysis. The guy is a doof.

]]> Maura http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973168 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973168 Drugs Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:58:33 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle Which part of FREEDOM! doesn't the Times get?

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973182 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973182 Drugs Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:11:22 -0800 Comment by Giffy “Sure, guys, let’s go smoke pot. Since the tests are random, I probably won’t get tested anyway. But if I do, I’ll only get kicked off the swim team…”

Which is funny because it will make the drug use more likely to result in a shitty life. Lots of kids do drugs in high school and college (and beyond) but few actually become drug addicts. Mostly becasue they have other shit to do then sit around high all the time. If you take that away form a kid, then you lose that important tool for teaching someone how to responsibly drink, smoke pot, jerk off.

]]> Giffy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973188 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973188 Drugs Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:17:52 -0800 Comment by SDA in SEA I've always thought random drug testing is a fundamentally flawed and un-American idea.

One of the most basic premises of our legal system is the idea that one is innocent until proven guilty, and that the police must have reasonable suspicion to search you.

Random drug testing is just the opposite of that. It presumes you must be doing drugs, or that somebody must be doing drugs (assuming guilt with no proof). And that no actual evidence need be presented to justify a drug test (a search by any other name).

Whether or not a student athlete smokes a bit of refer on the weekend is none of the school's business. The school can test his (or her) academic performance. His coach can judge his athletic performance. If he is doing acceptably in both of those areas, then leave him the fuck alone.

]]> SDA in SEA http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973196 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973196 Drugs Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:24:51 -0800 Comment by Ryan All random drug testing does is make kids go, "Sure, let's go snort coke or binge drink or any number of ridiculously dangerous and/or highly addictive drugs that'll be out of my system over the weekend!"

But at least it'll stop those goddamn potheads from ruining our children and, by extension, our future.

]]> Ryan http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973198 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973198 Drugs Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:25:05 -0800 Comment by Art Thiel would never have written something so stupid What a useless fucktard. I'm glad he's angry - with any luck it'll take years off of his life.

]]> Art Thiel would never have written something so stupid http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973203 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973203 Drugs Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:34:01 -0800 Comment by Y.F. "I've always thought random drug testing is a fundamentally flawed and un-American idea."

All random drug testing? Testing for minors? Or just students? Or athletes? What about people who have dangerous jobs?

Because I kind of like to know about the people with dangerous jobs using, I really don't want them putting my life at risk. And if I were a parent I'd like to know if my kid were using drugs...other people's kids, not so much.

]]> Y.F. http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973220 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973220 Drugs Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:55:29 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle So, if smoking pot is so bad, how come the BC teams beat us so often?

(caveat - doing drugs is bad for sports performance, IMHO)

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973222 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973222 Drugs Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:55:53 -0800 Comment by umvue Sports writer states opinion not based on empirical evidence.

At least governmental agencies would never form and implement policies without looking at the data.

]]> umvue http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973236 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973236 Drugs Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:12:56 -0800 Comment by gnossos @7: yeah ALL random testing.

It's kind of like prior restraint of speech.

]]> gnossos http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973258 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973258 Drugs Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:05:55 -0800 Comment by Fifty-Two-Eighty Silly people . . . still laboring under the mistaken belief that there's a Constitution.

]]> Fifty-Two-Eighty http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973267 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973267 Drugs Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:20:51 -0800 Comment by Mike of Renton Just make sure the SCOTUS doesn't find out that each state has it's own constitution.

]]> Mike of Renton http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973270 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973270 Drugs Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:26:08 -0800 Comment by vooodooo84 @12 haha, its unreviewable, so screw scalia and his cronies this one is final.

]]> vooodooo84 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973335 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973335 Drugs Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:20:34 -0800 Comment by Julie @7, if you'd like to know if your kid is using drugs, you can always randomly test him/her yourself. Why is it the school's job to make sure you know if your kid is doing drugs?

On the dangerous jobs issue, the important thing for me would be, are they high or drunk while on the job. Not, do they smoke a little weed on the weekend. So, I might be fine with random breathalyzers or other "are you impaired right now" checks, but in my opinion, random testing is sort of unnecessary.

]]> Julie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973365 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973365 Drugs Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:44:13 -0800 Comment by DW Images and video from Dan Savages' glorious war on Iraq.

http://iraq.reuters.com/

This comment to be deleted soon as off-topic.

]]> DW http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973419 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/making_sense_of_craig_smith#c973419 Drugs Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:36:00 -0800