TIME HAS COME TO SCREEN HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES FOR ILLEGAL DRUGS

During the past few weeks, three interesting news stories emerged
related to the health and safety of athletes. Two of the stories
commanded national media attention. The first focused on Brian
DeMarco, old No. 73 of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

A seriously crippled DeMarco told a Congressional subcommittee he is
broke and uninsured. He claims he can't get the National Football
League or the Players' Association to even hear his claim for
disability benefits. The following week, a second story involved the
late Chris Benoit, the "Canadian Crippler," star of "professional"
wrestling. An apparent murder-suicide was committed involving Benoit,
his 7-year-old son and wife in the family's Fayetteville, Ga., home.

A third related story, with much less national media fanfare,
announced the newly enacted law now in effect subjecting some Florida
student athletes to random steroid testing. Under the new one-year
test legislation, the Florida High School Athletics Association will
supervise the testing in its 426 public and 224 private member schools.

DeMarco

A physically and emotionally broken DeMarco insisted in televised
interviews that his applications for disability benefits had gone
unanswered. Gene Upshaw, executive director of the National Football
League's Players Association, reported his view that DeMarco "had
never applied for assistance." DeMarco said he had filed for
"line-of-duty" disability in both 2001 and 2002. "How can I have
slipped through the cracks? I was homeless and disabled. Of course, I
would file for disability, but the disability system is broken," the
35 year-old DeMarco contended. Some NFL union trustees indicated they
will look into DeMarco's case.

Benoit

In the wrestling case, initially it was reported the 40-year-old
Benoit had murdered his son, his wife and himself. Then it was
learned Benoit's physician was implicated in the bizarre triple
murder. Physician Phil Astin was arrested in Atlanta, and faces
federal charges of allegedly improperly dispensing painkillers to
Benoit. Astin was indicted on seven counts of inappropriately
prescribing drugs such as Vicoprofen, Percocet, Xanax and Lorcet,
when there was no apparent medical need.

In the strange odyssey of pro wrestlers, Benoit enjoyed a good
reputation. Many have attributed his actions to what is known as
"roid rage," the depression that often comes with use of body
enhancing steroids. Steroids were found in the Benoit home. According
to the prosecutor, Astin wrote prescriptions for an extreme number of
controlled substances during the past two years, including
"significant quantities" of an anabolic steroid.

Testing High School Athletes

The new drug testing action for Florida high school athletes is a
one-year pilot. Gov. Charlie Crist said he is "hopeful that through
the legislation we will limit the number of high school students
struggling with steroid use. It's our responsibility to teach our
children the serious health risks that may be involved."

The tests will be randomly administered to 1 percent of high school
athletes who compete in selected sports during the 2007-2008 school
year. The law includes $100,000 in funding to pay for steroid screening.

State Rep. Marcelo Llorente, R-Miami, said football, baseball and
weightlifting were chosen because they are sports where muscle mass
enhances performance most.

Under the new law, any high school athlete who does not submit to a
urine sampling will be ineligible to participate. Those who test
positive would be suspended from the team, but could be reinstated if
they pass a follow-up test later.

Florida follows New Jersey and Texas with a drug testing policy for
high school athletes.

High school athletes are still teenagers who need to focus on more
than looking strong and winning records. They need first to focus on
protecting their bodies, minds and futures.

Many damaging habits, including drug abuse, alcohol addiction,
smoking and overextending the limits of young, still-growing bodies,
often begin in the teen years.

The testimony and interviews of DeMarco reinforce the awareness and
need for general health and safety in athletics. With the Benoit
family tragedy fresh on our minds, there is no doubt the state should
play a role in trying to protect teenage high school athletes from
steroid abuse, a major problem in many schools.

At a time of expanding federal and state government intrusion into
all of our lives, it is difficult to be excited about another "big
brother" law. However, this safety precaution is clearly within the
state's responsibility. This legislation is appropriate and overdue.

William L. Bainbridge is St. Augustine-based Distinguished Research
Professor for the University of Dayton and President & Chief
Executive Officer of SchoolMatch, a national educational auditing,
research, and data organization. In the late 1990s, SchoolMatch
conducted an audit of the Duval County school system.