Steroid plan not applauded by everyone, By: Greg Tuaro
Some criticize any testing, others hope it will go further.
May 15, 2006, Gannett New Jersey
Robert Kanaby, executive director of the National Federation of High School Athletic Associations, said all eyes will be on the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association as it becomes the nation's first scholastic sports governing body to implement a statewide steroid testing policy.
"People across the country will be monitoring the program in New Jersey," Kanaby said. "As state legislators across the country look at it, other (athletic associations) may follow suit."
Kanaby called the NJSIAA's program, based on former Gov. Richard Codey's executive order, "fair and practical," but critics of the soon-to-be adopted plan question its necessity, constitutionality, methodology, expense and effectiveness as a deterrent.
The plan is expected to be unanimously approved at the NJSIAA's executive committee meeting June 7 and is scheduled to take effect in September. The NJSIAA and the state will evenly split the program's $100,000 cost.
Under the proposal, 500 of the roughly 10,000 high school athletes who qualify as individuals or as part of teams for the NJSIAA's 31 championships will be randomly tested at playoff sites for about 80 performance-enhancing drugs including steroids and amphetamines. The NJSIAA is expected to release a complete list of banned substances next week.
Roughly 60 percent of the players tested will be in football, track & field, baseball, swimming, wrestling and lacrosse, sports where steroid use is suspected to be most prevalent.
Frank Uryasz, president of the National Center for Drug Free Sport who ran the NCAA's inaugural steroid testing program in 1986, lauded the NJSIAA but suggested it revise the plan down the road.
"I think it's an excellent first step, a way to get your arms around the program, get athletes used to it and, of course, it ties nicely with the mission of a high school athletic association to ensure the safety of their athletes and do all they can to make sure their state championships are clean," Uryasz said.
"Eventually, to have the full impact of drug testing, you have to test year-round for anabolic steroids, not just at the championships."
Violators face a one-year suspension and will be stripped of individual titles. Positive tests can be appealed first to the NJSIAA's executive committee and then to the state commissioner of education. Secondary appeals for athletes from nonpublic schools must go through state Superior Court.
Teams with violators might be forced to forfeit titles in sports such as wrestling and swimming, where a competitor's individual points factor into the team scoring.
All of the 230,000 high school athletes under the NJSIAA's auspices must sign, along with their parents or legal guardians, a consent form authorizing analysis of urine samples. The back of the consent form will list all banned substances. Athletes who do not comply with the mandate will be barred from competition.
Under state law and according to the U.S. Supreme Court, New Jersey schools can test participants in extracurricular activities, from the chess club to the football team, for use of illegal drugs. About 20 New Jersey high schools randomly test students for illicit drugs but none test for steroids.
Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, opposes the NJSIAA plan and any other that targets participants of extracurricular activities.
"It's really poor public policy," she said. "There are a number of arguments against it, but I think one of the most important ones is that it undermines the authority of the parent because it really should be up to the parents where their children undergo medical examinations and those decisions are a matter of family privacy.
"The reason they pick on athletes for drug testing is because it's true, our Constitution says they have a right to an education but (it doesn't) specify a well-rounded education that includes a variety of activities. Those athletics and extracurriculars are very much a part of an education to which we have a right."
NJSIAA Executive Director Steve Timko said playing high school sports is a privilege, not a right, and that the association's attorneys have advised him that the testing policy will withstand any legal challenge. He said the NJSIAA's plan, aimed at deterrence, is not flawless but fundamentally sound.
Doug Husak, a Rutgers University professor of philosophy and law who is among the nation's leading drug policy experts, said chances of a successful legal challenge to the NJSIAA's program are "very remote."
"The precedents all involve illicit drugs as far as I'm aware and so, of course, they (steroids) are different drugs with different purposes," Husak said. "Presumably, the objectives of testing are very different, and so there are different questions raised. Nonetheless, I wouldn't think that those challenges would succeed."
The NJSIAA program is designed to level the playing field for all teams and to deter athletes from putting harmful or potentially life-threatening substances into their bodies. An extensive educational campaign for athletes, parents, coaches and administrators about the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs will complement the testing program.
"We may stub our toe here and there about how we are going to do it, but the thing is that when you start walking you take baby steps, and this is one of those steps," NJSIAA Assistant Director Bob Baly said. "We're looking to prevent student-athletes from (developing steroid-related) medical problems, and we are trying to make sure that student-athletes don't cheat. If this all works, we are going to reduce the number of students taking steroids, and that's the important thing."
A Center for Disease Control and Prevention survey revealed that steroid use among high school students nationwide more than doubled between 1991 and 2003. More than 6 percent of 15,000 students surveyed during that span admitted to using steroids.
Since 2002, however, steroid use has decreased nationwide by nearly 35 percent among high school seniors, according to a University of Michigan study that surveyed 50,000 eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders from 4,000 public and private schools. Steroid use has steadily declined among eighth-graders and high school sophomores over the past four years as well.
Regardless of the conflicting data, Baly said members of Codey's task force, including Sports Illustrated reporter Peter King, indicated that steroid use in New Jersey was spreading.
"We did some anecdotal research, talking to student-athletes," Baly said. "Peter King was the lead person on that. The statements they made was that steroids are being used and that they were easily accessible. They could go on-line or go into the cities to get them."
Despite widespread support for the program, some question whether the NJSIAA's testing policy will provide an adequate scientific sample that is representative of the state's high school athletic population. In singling out championship competitors, the program eliminates roughly 220,000 athletes. As a result, only 0.2 percent of all high school athletes, or 1 in 460, will be tested.
Questioning the plan
According to the National Scholastic Anti-Doping Program, in order for a program to work as a deterrent to drug use, an effective sampling plan must be in place. The following must be taken into consideration:
An ample number of tests must be given to assure all students perceive that they are at real risk of being tested at any given time.
The timing of the tests must be random to assure that no student can predict when the tests will be given.
The selection of students must be random to assure that no student can predict when he or she will be tested.
Ephraim Mufson, director of business development and operations for the NSADP, said those guidelines cannot be universally applied, and testers attempting to adhere to them should be afforded some latitude.
He said other steroid-testing initiatives "may be more effective" but that New Jersey "has to start somewhere."
Phil Hossler, a veteran certified athletics trainer at East Brunswick High School, said the NJSIAA's plan fails to meet any of the NSADP criteria.
"The current designed program seems to be a well-intentioned fishing net but it may have several holes in it and you're not going to catch many fish," Hossler said. "We all support the idea. Nobody is saying this is a bad idea. But if you're only testing 1 out of 460 kids and they basically know when you are coming, there's a hole in your fishing net right there."
Rubenstein said he could understand the NJSIAA's rationale in testing only championship qualifiers because, theoretically, that pool of athletes represents the vast majority of potential violators.
"If the point is to try to catch people who wouldn't otherwise have some way of preparing for this or knowing about it, then randomness would seem to be preferred," Rubenstein said. "On the other hand, if the concern is with performance, and the thought is that somehow these drugs really enhance performance, then the people who are doing steroids are the ones to be tested."
A federally funded program meeting all of the NSADP criteria was implemented in Polk County, Fla., two years ago. There, 300 of the county's 4,000 student-athletes, or 7.5 percent of its entire athletic population, are randomly tested. Any student-athlete can be asked to provide a urine sample at any time during the academic year. Those randomly selected have no prior knowledge of testing dates.
Athletes in Polk County are also tested for recreational drugs, which are considerably more pervasive than steroids.
According to statistics from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 3.4 percent of high school seniors used steroids in 2004. That same year, nearly 77 percent admitted to consuming alcohol, more than 45 percent said they smoked marijuana and 28.7 percent said they used illicit drugs other than marijuana.
Some critics of Codey's plan said the state also should have attempted to curtail recreational drug use among high school athletes. For an additional $2,000 to $9,000, depending on a dip-stick or comprehensive lab test, the NJSIAA could screen 500 student athletes for recreational drugs.
"When it comes to regular drug testing versus steroid testing, there's a lot of good people out there making sure that steroids are included, but if they don't include the other drugs, then it's kind of like jumping on the John Boat while the cruise ship of alcohol and marijuana is sailing away," said Audrey Kelley-Fritz, senior manager of prevention, health and wellness for Polk County Schools who oversees the district's testing program.
Baly said Codey's executive order only gives the NJSIAA authority to test New Jersey athletes during state championship competition and that it only gives his organization the power to test for performance-enhancing drugs.
The cost of testing
Steroid testing will cost the NJSIAA and the state $150 per athlete. Timko said the NJSIAA has enough money budgeted for its share of testing fees during the 2006-07 academic year. He said membership fees will be raised from $72 to $80 per school next year but that the increase is not correlated to the steroid testing program.
Fernando Montes, executive director of the Taylor Hooton Foundation, an organization fighting drug abuse in the name of a former high school baseball player from Texas who committed suicide in July 2003 after taking steroids, hopes other states follow New Jersey's lead. Oregon, New Mexico and Florida are strongly considering statewide steroid testing.
"I think more governors need to take the lead on (steroid abuse)," said Montes, a former team trainer for the Texas Rangers and Cleveland Indians. "At the end of the day, if you prevent one child from using, you can keep the kid from getting addicted or ending up like Taylor, and then your work has been done."
Concerns and alternatives
According to the Mayo Clinic, side effects of steroid use in boys include a higher voice and infertility. Girls can develop a deeper voice, increased body hair and increased appetite. Both might experience baldness, changes to their genitalia, severe acne, liver abnormalities, increased bad cholesterol, decreased good cholesterol, aggressive behavior and depression.
It takes athletes roughly two to three months to wash steroids from their system, and it takes an average of two to three weeks for test results to return. Consequently, athletes in New Jersey can potentially stop using steroids two to three months before championships and test negative. That would allow them to use the drug nine to 10 months out of the year without fear of testing positive.
While such athletes would get no benefit from steroids during the scholastic season, they would benefit from them during off-season months. College coaches heavily scout basketball and baseball players, for example, at showcases held during the summer.
Furthermore, their high school seasons will be almost complete, if not complete, by the time test results return. Kelley-Fritz said seniors, specifically, would then not be penalized regarding their playing time under the NJSIAA plan.
"By the time they qualify (for the state championship) and play, they're already finished," she said. "Yeah, he's been found positive, but what are the repercussions for that? He's already played through his year by the time they get done. That would be an issue."
Montes said the NJSIAA plan will not prevent a player on a subpar team from using steroids to shine as an individual in pursuit of a college scholarship or a professional contract.
"What happens if you're in a program that you know and I know would never have a chance to get to the postseason?" he asked. "They (college recruiters) are going to see me regardless. It doesn't matter what the sport is. There's baseball scouts, football scouts everywhere."
Baly said Montes' concern was legitimate but that the NJSIAA simply doesn't have the financial resources to test more than 500 athletes. Baly said he hoped the NJSIAA's emphasis on education would deter such athletes from using performance-enhancing drugs.
"Will there be an adolescent some place that is willing to take that risk because (he or she) plays on a team that's not going to make the state championships?" Baly asked. "Yeah. But guess what? Their athletic department may be more aware because of our education program about the signs and symptoms of steroid use and have the youngster tested (as is a school's right under state law)."
The ACLU's Jacobs said she believed the NJSIAA and the state should be investing all of their dollars in education, not testing.
"Drug-testing programs have never been shown to deter drug use, where an attentive coach or an attentive parent could see the evidence of use and address it themselves," she said. "If I were spending money, I would put my money into having education. I would bring that to the classroom with dialogue and discussion and engage students in an educational way, not in a punitive way."
Uryasz, citing NCAA statistics, said testing is an effective deterrent. Nearly 10 percent of college football players admitted using steroids in 1989. Today, about 2 percent claim to use performance-enhancing drugs. Uryasz said the decline can be attributed in large part to the NCAA's comprehensive testing program.
"You don't even know with random testing if you are going to hit the people that are actually abusing," Timko said. "But, quite honestly, the biggest impact it will serve is as a deterrent. If the deterrent keeps people away from them, people will be more concerned about training and not trying to get that athletic advantage and do it the right way."
Kelley-Fritz said the program in Polk County has, to date, proved to be an effective deterrent.
"It did show some decreases in our athletes in steroid use," she said. "Nothing real major, but it was one (step) in the right direction. Hopefully, by the end of this year we will have more information to see if it's actually effective or not. That's what our grant is for -- to determine the effectiveness of testing."
Polk County was one of eight school districts nationwide to apply for and receive a federal grant for drug testing two years ago, according to Alison Kogut, deputy press secretary for the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Fifty-five districts received grants totaling nearly $10 million this year.
Kogut said President Bush has proposed $15 million in federal grants for student drug testing for the next fiscal year. While that money is believed to be earmarked exclusively for schools and districts, not nonprofit organizations such as the NJSIAA, Baly said the association will investigate if the state department of education can apply for a grant on its behalf.
Montes said he hopes the NJSIAA and other state associations, should they follow suit, will receive federal assistance.
"If you go from state to state you find a spectrum of opinions," he said. "Are we going to allow this (steroid use) to continue, or are we going to take a stand for the next generation?
"I applaud the steps they are taking in New Jersey. The bottom line is you have to start somewhere."
