TIER SCHOOLS COOL TOWARD TESTING TEENS FOR STEROIDS

N.J. First State With Policy On Screening High School Athletes

ALBANY -- New Jersey last week became the first state in the country
to adopt a policy to test high school athletes for steroids, an issue
New York senators have approved numerous times since 1997 but which
the Assembly has not supported.

Anabolic-steroid use has been a hot topic in the United States,
especially among professional baseball players. Last year, Congress
held a hearing on performance-enhancing drugs in the Major Leagues.

Concern that the national attention could spur more young people to
take steroids has been filtering down to high school sports.
Officials worry that the promise of bulging biceps and pectoral
superpower overwhelms the threat of Adam's apples for girls, breasts
for boys and other serious health effects.

But the idea of schools testing student athletes for steroids
received a skeptical reception from Southern Tier school officials.

The proposal is "ludicrous," said Tom Hahne, athletic director in the
Vestal Central School District. Parents, not the school district,
have the responsibility to take care of their child's health issues, he said.

"As a parent, I want my child's health concerns dealt with within my
family," the Vestal athletic director said. Schools already give
physicals to student athletes, but these physicals focus on making
sure students are physically able to compete, not checking for drugs, he said.

The New York legislation passed the Senate and is in the Assembly
Codes Committee. If it passes, the state Education Department would
develop guidelines for schools. If a district opted in, athletes
would sign consent forms, as would parents if they were under 18.

The legislation would establish a new felony crime of criminal sale
of an anabolic steroid to a minor.

The goal of the New York legislation is to ensure a level playing
field during competition and encourage users to seek treatment, said
Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, D-Nassau County, a sponsor.

"The purpose and intent of this bill is to protect kids," he said.
"Nobody's punishing anybody."

Since steroid testing is an expensive proposition -- more than $100
for a comprehensive analysis -- the bill calls for a $5 million
school grant program.

The Cost Of Testing

Nationally, 13 percent of high schools had drug-testing policies for
illegal or prohibited substances in 2003, according to a survey by
the National Federation of State High School Associations, the
National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and the
National Center for Drug Free Sport. Only 29 percent checked for
anabolic steroids.

New Jersey's state athletic association voted this week to implement
a policy to randomly test athletes who qualify for championship play.
New Mexico has a pilot test program in four high schools, said Kay
Hawes of the Center for Drug Free Sport. Florida, Texas, Michigan and
California are among other states that have considered such testing.

The Susquehanna Valley Central School District in Conklin approved a
policy in 2000 but never implemented it because there was a community
outcry against it, said then-school board President Sandra Ruffo.
There were issues of confidentiality, feelings that athletes were
unfairly targeted, and complaints that parents, not schools, should
handle children's substance-abuse problems, she said. The district
was not focusing on steroids, but on alcohol and commonly used illegal drugs.

If the state mandates steroid testing, SV would have to comply,
Superintendent Carol S. Boyce said. But the district would have to do
a great deal of research before accepting any grant money to do
testing for steroids.

She said she would have to gauge community feeling before considering
it. That would involve discussions with coaches, parents, booster
clubs, school nurses and health teachers about the idea, she said.

Education in health classes, and by coaches and parents, is
preferable to testing, she said. "I think being proactive far
outweighs the advantages of being reactive," she said.

Hahne agreed; schools are educational institutions, and teaching
about the dangers of steroid use in health classes is appropriate, he
said. The district has pamphlets on the harmful effects of steroids
that coaches can give to players. But school districts shouldn't be
in the monitoring business.

The Fort Edward Union Free School District in Washington County
conducts drug testing on athletes and is the only one state Public
High School Athletic Association staff said they knew of.

The district started testing a number of years ago and stopped, then
restarted two years ago, Superintendent Stan Maziejka said. One-third
of athletes in each sport are tested each season for marijuana,
cocaine and opiates. Tests are about $35 each; 98 percent of athletes
were clean last year and 100 percent this year, he said.

Testing for steroids too would be expensive, so the district probably
would apply for a state grant, he said.

Testing 'A Deterrent'

Studies show steroid use is not rampant among teens. Four percent of
high schoolers surveyed last year said they had used the drug at
least once, compared to a low of 2.2 percent in 1993 and a high of
6.1 percent in 2003, a new report by the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention found.

"The purpose of drug testing is to deter the student athlete from
taking the substance in the first place," Hawes said. "They
(students) tell us it's a deterrent ..."

But David Garbarino, director of health, physical education and
athletics for the Binghamton City School district, said he's
confident that steroid use is not widespread here. He also noted that
testing is expensive, and the district would have to hire someone to
administer the tests.

Also, there is a question of what would happen to a student who
tested positive, he said. What would his punishment be? Would the
student be banned forever from school sports, or for just a season?

Besides cost, some districts have shied away because of civil-liberties issues.

The New York Civil Liberties Union opposes the current legislation
because it would "sink $5 million into testing" and does not have an
education component, said Donna Lieberman, executive director. "The
scope of the bill goes way beyond steroids and provides for random
testing of some athletes for a whole range of drugs," she said.
Athletes enjoy a different status in school, but they don't lose
their right to privacy when they hit the ball field, Lieberman said.

Jerry Diehl of the National Federation of State High School
Associations disagreed. "Sports are a privilege, not a right," he said.

A 1995 Supreme Court decision found that random testing of student
athletes was constitutional.

Lloyd Mott of the New York State Public High School Athletic
Association said his group emphasizes education and prevention over
testing but does not oppose the legislation because it would be
voluntary and guidelines would be uniform.

"We're still of the belief that we're in the business of education
and that we can prevent these things from happening through
education," he said.

Gannett News service writer Cara Matthews and staff writer George
Basler contributed to this report.

By The Numbers

Steroid statistics, based on a 2003 survey of athletic directors:

* About 13 percent of the nation's high schools had a drug-testing
policy in place and another 17 percent wanted one.

* Of those, 63 percent tested student athletes and 20 percent tested
all students.

* Testing was mandatory in 82 percent of schools and the method of
testing was done randomly in 76 percent of the schools.

* Marijuana was the drug most tested for, with 95 percent of schools
testing for the substance. Others tested were cocaine (86 percent),
amphetamine/methamphetamine (85 percent), opiates (67 percent) and
alcohol (62 percent). Twenty-nine percent tested for anabolic steroids.

* The most common reasons given for not testing were budget
constraints, lack of school board approval, legal concerns and lack
of parent approval.

Source: National Federation of State High School Associations, the
National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and the
National Center for Drug Free Sport.

WHAT ARE ANABOLIC STEROIDS?

Anabolic steroids are synthetic substances related to male sex
hormones that promote the growth of skeletal muscle. There are more
than 100 kinds, but they require a prescription to be used in this
country. Most that are used illegally in the United States are
smuggled from other countries, illegally diverted from pharmacies in
this country or synthesized in clandestine laboratories.

Side effects include acne, baldness, heart attacks and strokes,
tumors and blood-filled cysts on the liver and stunted growth.

Testing for the most commonly used steroids can run under $100 per
test. Tests for steroids and other illegal substances, like cocaine,
are about $150 each.

Anabolic steroids are different from steroids used to control
inflammation in the body.

Sources: National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Center for Drug Free Sport.