Hayseeds No. 220

City Schools to Crack Down on Student Athletes Using Drugs.

The city's tough new policies would ban students from participating in atheletic programs for up to a year if they were caught using or selling drugs.

This policy makes sense in many ways, but also is discerning. We don't want anybody using illegal drugs, particularly those which could hurt oneself or others. At the same time, we don't want to cut people who have fallen pray to drugs to be cut out of their social network or their ability, and fall more to the evils of drugs.

A more balanced program might simply require student athletes who have fallen victim to drugs to participate in a program to help them get un-addicted. It might be expensive for the school to do this, but the alternative will end up costing taxpayers far more in the long run—be it for incarceration or more serious treatment.

League of Conservation Voters Ranks Legislative Successes.

In short they are happy and not-so-happy with the things Albany did during the past year. Then again, aren't we all.