DRUG TESTS CURB STUDENT ATHLETE USE, STUDY FINDS

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Student athletes subject to random drug testing at an
Oregon high school were almost four times less likely to use drugs than
their counterparts at a similar school who were not tested, according to a
study by researchers at Oregon Health and Science University.

They compared Wahtonka High School in The Dalles, where all student
athletes were subject to random testing, and Warrenton High School, a
demographically similar school near Astoria, where they were not. Of the
135 athletes subject to the random testing at Wahtonka, 5.3 percent said
they were using illicit drugs by the end of the school year, vs. 19.4
percent of the 141 athletes at Warrenton. They also were three times less
likely to use performance-enhancing substances such as steroids, according
to the survey responses, which were anonymous.

The study, conducted during the 1999-2000 school year, was funded by the
National Institute on Drug Abuse, an arm of the National Institutes of
Health. The results are published in the January issue of the Journal of
Adolescent Health.

The study comes six months after the U.S. Supreme Court put the issue in
the spotlight. In June, the court ruled that children attending public
schools can be required to participate in drug testing if they join any
competitive after-school activity, from football to chess.

Merry Holland, principal at Wahtonka, said the school has continued to test
athletes since the study ended. She said she believed the program has
helped curb drug use. But, she said, the drug testing has also led some
students to switch to substances, such as beer, that are more difficult to
track. "If they want to stay with sports and participate, they might switch
to something they think is harder to detect," she said.