DRUG TESTING TOO COSTLY FOR MOST DISTRICTS

With baseball under siege over a widening drug scandal and other
professional and college sports facing continued scrutiny about
illegal performance-enhancing substances and tainted records, it was
only a matter of time before the issue reached the high schools.

At a March 25 hearing, state Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough,
convened a panel of athletes, coaches, educators and health officials
to discuss the increasing number of high school athletes using illegal
performance-enhancement drugs and legal dietary supplements such as
creatine.

The group, including former 49ers coach Bill Walsh and Del Oro High
School quarterback Kevin Will, discussed the potential problems
associated with the drugs and supplements and listened to opinions
about how those problems can be countered.

Among the suggestions: prohibiting the sale of supplements to minors,
launching a campaign to educate students and coaches, requiring
advertisers to provide scientific proof their products are safe and
implementing random drug testing.

But it's a long process before any of the recommendations could be
implemented.

In the next week or two, Speier will have meetings and amend the spot
bill (SB 1444) with her recommendations. The bill must then be heard
in a policy committee and possibly a fiscal committee and pass through
the state Senate and Assembly. The legislature then must have the bill
to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger by Aug. 31.

"We need to address this issue head-on," said Tracy Fairchild,
Speier's communications director. "Some people are using these drugs,
and it's got to be seen as cheating and bad for their health. There's
so much that needs to be done. It's just, 'What can we do?' "

Because of budget cuts and high costs, drug testing of California's
nearly 700,000 student-athletes does not seem feasible, according to
CIF assistant executive director Roger Blake.

Blake, who spoke at Speier's hearing, said no schools in California
test for performance-enhancing drugs, and only 12 to 13 percent of
schools in the United States test for controlled substances such as
marijuana, cocaine and amphetamines.

In the Sacramento area, only Dixon High tests for controlled
substances, and only among its athletes. Dixon athletic director Tom
Crumpacker said four to five athletes are randomly tested each week
through urinalysis for amphetamines, cocaine, marijuana, opiates and
PCP. Crumpacker said the program costs $5,000 to $7,000 annually.

A CIF bylaw recommends schools have a policy regarding anabolic
steroids and performance-enhancing drugs, and the California Education
Code encourages schools to provide instruction in grades 7 through 12.
But neither is mandatory.

Blake suggests the CIF and state educate coaches about the effects of
performance-enhancing drugs. Once they learn the benefits and risks,
coaches can provide their athletes with valuable information.

>From September 1998 to November 2001, the CIF sponsored training of
more than 10,000 coaches, which included drug education. But the
program that was paid for by the state was then cut. Now school
districts must pay for the program, and several, including San Juan
Unified, have dropped it, according to Blake.

Terry Rasmussen, program specialist in athletics for the San Juan
district, said the district started a new program this year. All
non-credentialed coaches are required to take a one-day coaching
education class. In the four-hour class that costs coaches $20, they
spend 20 to 30 minutes discussing nutritional issues, including the
effects of performance-enhancing drugs and supplements.

On its Web site (www.cifstate.org), the CIF has 84 health and safety
bulletins educating coaches and players on an array of topics,
including performance-enhancing drugs. The CIF also mails a copy of
the bulletins to every school.

As with Blake and Rasmussen, Sac-Joaquin Section Commissioner Pete
Saco would love to see the state and CIF become more stringent and
receive more money for testing and education. He's also realistic.

"I'm for (drug testing), but where are you going to get the
resources?" Saco said. "Then you're talking about, Are they going to
do it for all athletes? What about the cheerleading team or the debate
team? You're going to have a lot of lawsuits in court. It's going to
be tough to legislate."