Regular readers of this blog are familiar with my prior posts on steroid abuse in high schools (here and here). That is why I am pleased to see Lt. Governor Dewhurst's recent statement that he will seek legislation to require random testing of all Texas high school athletes with the cost being paid by the State.
(The website for the National Institute on Drug Abuse has a tremendous amount of information on anabolic steroid abuse).
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Dewhurst: Schools need steroid testing
He'll ask lawmakers to OK random screenings for all Texas athletes
AUSTIN – Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst called Thursday for mandatory, random testing of all Texas high school athletes for steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, a move that if approved by lawmakers would create the nation's largest steroid testing program for high-schoolers.
Mr. Dewhurst, the leader of the Senate, promised that the state would pay for the tests, which he said are needed to curb a dangerous habit that can cause depression, violent behavior and other health problems. In some surveys, up to 2 percent of Texas students in middle schools and high schools report having used the drugs.
"I want to protect the children of Texas from the dangers of anabolic steroids," said Mr. Dewhurst, a Republican who has sought to round out his pro-kids political credentials during his re-election campaign.
Texas, which has more high school athletes than any other state at about 742,000, would leap ahead of all states in steroid testing if the program is approved. In football alone, Texas has more than 160,000 players in grades nine through 12, according to a national association that represents high schools. Only New Jersey has steroid testing now, and its program is more limited than what Mr. Dewhurst proposed. Other states are considering testing proposals.
Mr. Dewhurst said lawmakers will be asked in their regular session early next year to approve a program similar to what is already being done at the college level. Funding will be placed in the two-year appropriations bill to be considered by the Senate.
The University Interscholastic League, which regulates sports and other activities in high schools, would develop sanctions and penalties for athletes and schools found to violate the rules. The lieutenant governor did not say what those penalties should be.
"There have to be serious consequences for illegal use of steroids in our schools," Mr. Dewhurst said.
He noted that the UIL would study whether middle school athletes should also be tested.
The UIL has previously estimated that it would cost up to $6 million a year to randomly test high school and middle school athletes for anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. That figure was based on a cost of $200 per test and a testing rate of about 3 percent of athletes – the same percentage of NCAA athletes now tested annually at the college level.
Mr. Dewhurst said the tests could possibly be done for half that price – about $100 per student. In addition, he would like to see at least 20,000 athletes randomly tested the first year of the program, which would cost about $2 million using his per-test cost figure.
Whatever number of tests is decided, he explained, it should be large enough to deter most students from using the illegal substances. He noted that the cost ultimately would represent a fraction of the $33 billion a year now spent on public schools in Texas.
"We will make sure this is not an unfunded mandate from the state," he said.
Mr. Dewhurst was joined at a news conference to announce the proposal by Don Hooton, whose son Taylor, a Plano West High School baseball player, took his own life after suffering depression that his father felt was related to the boy's secretive steroid use. Mr. Hooton has become a national leader on the issue of steroids and young people.
"I hope the lieutenant governor's plans to curb steroid use in Texas will become a model for this nation and that other states will follow Texas' lead," Mr. Hooton said.
He cited studies indicating that one in 16 high school students nationally has used illegal steroids, a dramatic increase from a decade ago. In 1993, it was estimated that 1 in 45 students used steroids. Mr. Dewhurst cited another study that showed that as many as 42,000 students in Texas have used steroids.
A total of 53 high schools across the state already test athletes for illegal steroids, including those in the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District.
The News reported early last year that nine students at Colleyville Heritage High School had admitted using banned steroids, one of the largest cases of confirmed steroid use at a U.S. high school. District officials subsequently adopted a random testing program to screen students in all extracurricular activities for steroids and other illegal drugs.
The district only screens a small number of students for steroids because of the high cost of the test. None of the 56 students screened for steroids had positive results during the first year of testing.
Steve Trachier, the Grapevine-Colleyville administrator who oversees the drug-testing program, said he supports the statewide testing proposal.
"We feel like it's been effective and it's had a positive impact for the kids," Mr. Trachier said. "And where there is random drug testing of any kind, it gives the kids yet another opportunity to say no when people are trying to talk them into experimenting with illicit substances."
Todd Dodge, coach of the Class 5A state football champion Carroll Dragons in neighboring Southlake, said he supports Mr. Dewhurst's idea and would go even further.
"I'd also have no problem with the school district if it tested for steroids, marijuana, cocaine or anything else," Mr. Dodge said. "Personally, I think there's a bigger problem with the recreational drugs, so if you're going to test for performance-enhancing drugs, you should test for all of them.
"Any time you give a kid, whether it be a member of the football team or the band, a reason to say no to drugs, that's always something positive."
Mr. Dodge said he also would extend the mandatory testing to students in all extracurricular activities.
"I'm not naive to think performance-enhancing drugs aren't taken just by high school athletes," he said.
Plano West football coach Mike Hughes said he also supports testing. It was his school that Mr. Hooton's son attended.
"It's reality for us," Mr. Hughes said.
The legislation pitched by Mr. Dewhurst also would require mandatory online education programs for coaches and athletes that deal with the risks associated with performance-enhancing drugs.
Kim Rogers, director of public information for the UIL, said a pilot education program that deals with performance-enhancing drugs was launched in about 100 schools this year in response to a measure approved last year by the Legislature. Another education program is still being developed.
In addition, Ms. Rogers said the UIL is conducting a survey of schools to gauge the extent of the problem and find out what they are doing to combat use of performance-enhancing drugs. Results of the survey will be available to help lawmakers when they take up Mr. Dewhurst's proposal next year, she noted.
UIL officials also have had talks with the National Center for Drug Free Sport, operator of the NCAA's testing program. Those discussions were held in response to drug-testing legislation that was considered by lawmakers last year. The center presented the UIL with various options for testing student-athletes as well as cost estimates for each option.
Staff writers Gary Jacobson, Todd Wills, Marissa Alanis and Damon L. Sayles contributed to this story.
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