Student Drug Testing and Supreme Court Precedents

"The Earls and Vernonia [U.S. Supreme Court] rulings show that minors have diminished privacy expectations relative to adults, especially when drug testing is implemented by individuals in a guardian or tutor capacity. Although not dispositive, Earls, Vernonia, and Chandler also illustrate that drug testing programs imposed on a subset of the population that has a 'demonstrated problem of drug abuse' may tilt the balancing test in the government’s favor, especially if the testing program is designed to effectively address the problem."