The Cassia County School District is about to become the first in Idaho to test students for nicotine. It's an innovative idea - after all, 20 percent of Idaho teenagers use tobacco - but before the program becomes permanent, administrators and School Board members ought to ask some questions.

For the present, the district plans non-punitive nicotine screening of half of the athletes undergoing mandatory random alcohol and drug testing.

The effort will gather data the board will use to decide whether to implement nicotine screening among student athletes, including cheer and dance team members.

To justify the policy, the board needs to determine whether tobacco use among student athletes is a significant local problem and whether testing is an appropriate way to address it, according to the school district's attorney, Doug Whipple.

Cassia County School District Superintendent Gaylen Smyer says that before the beginning of the winter sports season all student athletes will undergo drug and alcohol testing as part of the district's policy.

"Once the athletes make the team they will be randomly tested throughout the season," Smyer said. "When the athletes are randomly tested 50 percent of the tests will check for the presence of nicotine."

Jody Prewitt, co-owner of Mobile Drug Screen, which currently performs drug and alcohol tests on district athletes, says two random samplings were performed during routine drug and alcohol tests. In one group of four students, all four tested positive for nicotine, she said. In the other group of four, two tested positive.

That's troubling, but testing rules should recognize that there are subtle but important distinctions between tobacco and drugs.

Although it's illegal inIdaho for minors to possess or use tobacco, tobacco itself is a legal product. Marijuana, methamphetamines and other drugs are not.

The board ought to consider a first-failure warning policy: Test positive for nicotine once, and you're on notice. Do so twice, and you're off the team.

Tobacco counseling should be part of the policy as well - including the fact that four Idahoans a day die from smoking-related diseases. And that annual health care costs inIdaho directly caused by smoking are $319 million; that works out to $549 a year out of the pockets of every man, woman and child in the state.

Good for the School Board for taking the initiative to do something about it.