's interest, By: Mike Peticca
Saturday, June 10, 2006
New Jersey's decision to randomly test high school athletes for steroids has the attention of the Ohio High School Athletic Association, but OHSAA Commissioner Dan Ross says there are no plans to pursue a similar policy.
"New Jersey has taken a good first step and it will cause other states to look at how to make such a program work," Ross said. "I don't think this will change how we do our business. We've been working very hard on the education aspect. We all want to do a better job of helping people understand the ramifications of making wrong decisions."
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association's executive committee voted unanimously Wednesday to randomly test athletes at state tournaments for about 80 substances, becoming the first state to enact steroid testing at the high school level. Student-athletes must give their approval for possible testing before the season or they will not be allowed to compete.
The plan begins this fall and students who test positive for steroids will lose their eligibility for one year. A Bloomberg News report cited a 2005 study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse that said 2.6 percent of high school seniors said they had used steroids at some time. Studies have proven that steroid use can cause multiple and severe medical problems.
State athletic associations cite several factors that make them reluctant to adopt steroid testing, including administration, costs and legal issues that could arise from, for instance, tainted or false results.
The OHSAA has had a prohibition on steroid usage codified within its sports regulations since the mid-1980s.
"We first considered testing in the mid-1980s and discarded that approach, preferring to opt for education," OHSAA assistant commissioner Debbie Moore wrote in an e-mail. "Since that time, the issue has come up for review several more times. Each time, our chemical awareness committee, which advises the board of control on healthy lifestyle issues, including drug, alcohol and tobacco issues, has been disinclined to recommend testing."
There has been little encouragement, according to Moore, from OHSAA member schools to adopt a statewide testing program. The 1995 decision by the Supreme Court in Vernonia School District v. Acton gives schools "broad discretion in implementing testing for their own programs," Moore wrote. "Very few [schools] have chosen to do this."
