DRUG TESTS PROPOSED FOR GASTON ATHLETES

GASTONIA -- Gaston County's high school athletes could lose their right to
play if they test positive for the kind of drugs that make them high or
make them hallucinate.

But they won't be tested at all for substances that make muscles grow big
and strong.

The countywide drug-testing program the Gaston County School Board will
consider Monday night will focus only on illegal street drugs such as
marijuana, cocaine and LSD. The randomly administered urine tests won't
cover prescription steroids or "performance enhancers" such as creatine and
androstenedione.

"Cost is a real factor," said Reeves McGlohan, the deputy Gaston schools
superintendent who helped formulate the policy. He said a urine test for
steroids would cost $80, compared to the $20 per-student cost of the one
for drugs and marijuana.

McGlohan said the school board committee that formulated the policy kicked
around the idea of steroid testing but decided not to include it initially.
That could happen later, however.

"This is what we came up with, and we feel like it's adequate at this
time," said Don Saine, the schools' county athletic director. He said he
tells his coaches to discourage supplement use, but doesn't think it's a
big enough problem to include it in the new testing program.

Coaches agree.

"The ideal situation is that you would test for everything, but financially
it isn't possible" said Mickey Lineberger, athletic director at South Point
High School. "This is a step in the right direction."

If the policy survives a first vote Monday and final approval in January,
Gaston will become one of only five N.C. school systems with a districtwide
drug-testing program for high school athletes.

The proposal first emerged last summer when Gaston County commissioners
were considering the schools' local budget. That board voted unanimously to
encourage schools to test as many

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students as legally possible, and pledged to pay for the tests.

The idea is slowly gaining acceptance in school circles, especially as
federal courts have ruled drug testing legal for students involved in
extracurricular activities.

Lincoln County launched a more comprehensive pilot program earlier this
year at East Lincoln High School. Using donated money, about 10 percent of
the school's male and female athletes have been tested, and so far all have
turned up negative for drugs and steroids.

Though Lincoln's policy targets "performance enhancers," East Lincoln
athletic director Bruce Bolick said he's not sure it would apply to
supplements such as creatine or "andro" because both are legal.

Indeed, some Gaston student athletes are taking advantage of the
supplements' easy availability.

Ashbrook senior John Woody, a guard on his school's football team, said he
has friends and teammates who have taken creatine during school hours.

And andro and creatine have been big sellers at Gastonia's General
Nutrition Center and Gold's Gym, sales clerks said Friday. Both stores try
to sell only to adults, but the clerks concede some of the supplements end
up with teen-agers.

Andro, in particular, gained popularity as a supplement because baseball
player Mark McGwire used it during his 70-home run season this year.
Baseball doesn't ban andro, though the NFL, the NCAA and the International
Olympic Committee do.

Still, the Olympic Committee stopped short last week of applying a similar
ban to creatine because it's more of a protein supplement, according to
ESPN's Internet site.

The controversy over McGwire's use helped spur the N.C. High School
Athletic Association to strengthen its opposition to all supplements. It is
sending a resolution to all the state's coaches and athletic directors next
month.

Though Gaston's proposed policy doesn't address legal performance
enhancers, Saine said he expects all his coaches to abide by the NCHSAA
guidelines.

Even the association's leaders admit an outright ban would be hard to enforce.

"One of the things you have to be careful of with andro and creatine is
they are dietary supplements," said Que Tucker, the NCHSSA's deputy
director. "You can go into any GNC or gym to buy them. There's no minimum
age."

Woody said he'd like to see illegal steroids included in athletes' drug
tests, though he questions the fairness and legality of testing for legal
supplements. He said he doesn't take supplements because he questions their
safety and effectiveness.

Among students, Woody said, the only opposition to drug testing has come
from those worried their own recreational use might be found out.

"Most people -- once they sit back, think about and see that the intentions
are good -- agree with it," Woody said.

Saine stressed that the proposal the school board will consider Monday is
not intended to punish drug use as much as prevent it. A positive test
won't go on a student's academic record and students will be allowed three
failed tests before being totally banned from sports.

The policy rewards nontested students who first tell coaches that they've
used drugs by giving them a shorter suspension than those who test
positive. It also encourages early involvement of parents and drug-abuse
experts.

The best thing the new policy does for coaches, they say, is give them a
uniform set of rules. Up to now, different coaches had different ideas
about drug enforcement.

"I've always had a policy that anybody caught with drugs or drinking is
automatically gone," Lineberger said. "It's lighter than the policy I've
used and the policy most coaches have used."

Another coach said the testing reduces the possibility that drug users will
evade detection by officials who don't know the signs.

"Coaches out there who turn the other cheek and say they didn't know
anything might not have that option any more," said Lloyd White, Ashbrook's
athletic director.

WANT TO GO?

The drug-testing policy will be considered at a 5:30 p.m. work session
Monday. The vote is scheduled for the board's regular 7 p.m. meeting. Both
will take place at the Gaston schools' office at 943 Osceola St., Gastonia.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski