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OSEVILLE – A split decision by the U.S. Supreme Court is fueling a hot new trend on school campuses — but one not particularly popular with students. 

The justices ruled in June that school districts can require drug tests for students who drive to school or engage in competitive after-school activities, not just for student athletes as had been permitted under a 1995 ruling. 

Since then, drug-testing companies have been heavily promoting their services to school officials. 

“I’ve been calling district superintendents ever since the ruling came out,” said Jeffrey Ellins, president of Datco Services Corp., a drug-testing company in Grass Valley. 

Roseville Joint Union High School District, for one, is considering using Ellins’ testing service and bringing in drug-sniffing dogs, though there has been no significant increase in student drug use. 

“This just seemed like the most contemporary issue that we haven’t specifically addressed,” student affairs director Larry Brubaker told The Sacramento Bee. 

It would cost the district $5,000 a month for drug testing and $16,000 to $18,000 annually for regular dog visits, Brubaker estimated. 

Laura Pinnick of Auburn has been promoting the services of her drug-sniffing dog, Ringo, to districts including Roseville since she opened her Interquest Canine Detection franchise in April. The corporation contracts with 1,300 school districts across the country, Pinnick said, including 300 in California. 

“The main goal (has been) starting to call on the big school districts in the area because it takes forever for them approve this kind of thing,” Pinnick said. 

Graham Boyd, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s drug litigation project, objected to schools requiring drug tests just because it’s now legal and available. 

“This is not like buying pencils or notebooks,” Boyd said. “It is about taking care of your students. And it is a serious privacy invasion for the students to give their urine.” 

He represented Lindsay Earls, who lost a 5-4 Supreme Court decision after she challenged her Oklahoma school’s requirement that she take a urine test to sing in the school choir. 

About 5 percent of schools had been testing athletes based on the 1995 decision, but this summer’s decision has prompted a major marketing drive. Boyd said one Florida company is offering school districts a free trial of its services. 

“Where you find the most drug testing is usually in communities where there’s the least drug use,” he contended. “The decision to test is more about politics and less about helping kids.” 

Karen Wehr, a Roseville parent and football boosters club president, said it should be up to teachers and coaches, not urine tests, to steer students away from drugs. 

“I know these kids and, for some of them, the only good thing they have in their life is being on the football team,” she said. 

That’s the point, said Datco’s Ellins: Students are likely to avoid drugs if it will prevent them from participating in extracurricular activities.