Huge Texas Steroid Testing Program Yields Little

Everything really is bigger in Texas. Students involved in athletic programs are being taken out of class to urinate in a cup in the nation's leading high school steroids testing program.

The findings have unearthed not much to substantiate concerns that steroid use is a gigantic problem. After the initial 10,000 tests only found four positive results, critics announced that the two-year program was a waste of effort and money.

At the moment, Texas lawmakers are pondering whether or not to maintain the $6 million program, reduce it or stop the program entirely. The idea of testing was to combat steroid use, not find teens using them, said Rep. Dan Flynn, a Republican.

"We don't have a bunch of pelts hanging on the wall," Flynn said. "The success is that we haven't had a lot of positive tests."

In 2005, headlines of professional athletes using steroids raised concerns that high school students were using them too. Two years later, Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst made steroid testing the major platform of his run.


At the end of June, officials anticipate that 40,000-50,000 public school students from all kinds sports are going to be tested.

Critics laughed when the first results were announced. A University Interscholastic League report released Dec. 1, announced that the first 10,117 tests revealed only four cases of steroid use.

An additional 22 cases were labeled "positive" because students did not follow testing rules. These students would either not give a urine sample, were absent the day they were chosen, or departed the testing area without permission.

Republican state Sen. Dan Patrick is loudly against the testing program, saying it is a "colossal waste of taxpayer money" that could be focused on combating recreational drug and alcohol use.

Dewhurst insists that the program needs to finish its course in order to decide if changes are needed.

The testing is "deterring our young people from putting their lives at risk or wrecking their bodies through the use of illegal steroids," Dewhurst stated.

Texas is the only state with a steroid testing program of this size, but restricted testing other places also hasn't unearthed extensive steroid use in high schools.

Illinois started the 08-09 school year by testing competitors at regional competitions, sectionals and state championships. The findings are not yet available.

Flynn encourages that the Texas program should keep on going, but will reduce the size of it, as long as it stays effective. The law mandates that a "statistically significant" number of athletes are tested.

High schools are concerned that the state will force the cost of the program on their shoulders. Maintaining the $6 million program will force schools to pay $4,709 every two years.

Even if the program continues, Rutledge noted that the early results show that steroid use is not the problem they thought it was.

"If one kid is taking steroids, it's a problem," Rutledge said. "It's not the epidemic that people feared it was."