N.J. High School Athletes to Be Tested for Steroids
June 7, 2006 — -- Starting this fall, New Jersey high school athletes will be the first in the nation to undergo random testing for steroids.
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association's executive board voted unanimously today to approve the unprecedented drug testing program, which will require athletes who qualify for state championships to be tested at random for more than 80 banned substances, including steroids and several diuretics.
"We're hoping that the effect will be to drastically deter athletes from taking substances that enhance performance," said Bob Baly, the association's assistant director.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 6 percent of high school athletes took steroids in 2003 without a prescription from a doctor.
"We have 240,00 student athletes, so 6 percent is about 13,000 students," Baly said. "If we had an epidemic of disease where 13,000 students had a disease, we would consider that a big problem."
A Different Approach
Earlier in the day, Michigan's Senate also approved legislation aimed at keeping steroid and performance-enhancing drugs out of schools.
The legislation requires school boards and charter schools to establish steroid policies and the state's Department of Community Health to develop a list of banned substances and make it available to school districts.
Critics point out, however, that the measure does not provide for random testing of athletes.
"What we passed just says schools have to come up with a policy, and it doesn't even say athletes will become ineligible," said Michael Switalski, a state senator whose amendment to require random steroid testing was rejected. "I commend the New Jersey athletic association, and I think they stand as a great example for stepping up to the responsibility."
The Opposition
Support for the New Jersey drug testing policy is not universal.
The New Jersey American Civil Liberties Union is one group that has publicly objected to the program, saying it infringes on the rights of families and sends the wrong message to students.
"We understand the desire to protect young people from the dangers of steroid use, however, we find that this effort sometimes takes on a zeal that ignores other legitimate concerns," said Annu Mangat, communication director of the New Jersey American Civil Liberties Union. "Is the approach of guilty until innocent a lesson we want to teach our student athletes?"
Under the program, athletes and their parents and guardians will be required to sign a form consenting to random testing in order to be eligible to participate in athletic programs. Testing would be conducted during championship seasons, after championship events.
Although test results would not come back until several weeks after the championship event, Baly said the policy was designed so that no athlete could take a banned substance between the time they were tested and the time the competition took place.
Teams will not be affected if an individual member is found to have taken a banned substance, Baly said, but individuals will be stripped of their titles and banned from all interscholastic actives for 365 days.
"Kids want fairness," Baly said. "If anything else, they want to be treated fairly, and when someone takes a performance-enhancing drug, it becomes unfair."
Under the New Jersey program, a medical review officer will get the results of an athlete's test first to see whether there is a medical reason for the student to test positive for a banned substance. A two-member committee will be created to hear student appeals, Baly said.
"If they continue to appeal, it can go up to the commission and the courts," he added.
Mangat said the ACLU had not yet decided if it would take legal action to stop the enforcement of the program. In addition to potential legal problems with the policy, Mangat also pointed out financial concerns.
Funding the Program
"These tests are pretty expensive, anywhere from $100 to $200," Mangat said. "In an era of diminished state resources for education funding, we really have to ask ourselves if this is the best use for taxpayer dollars,"
State Sen. Richard J. Codey ordered the New Jersey association to develop a steroid-testing policy in December in his final days as acting governor.
He said the state would provide $50,000 to help cover the cost of testing, which the state athletic association would match.
Switalski proposed paying for the tests in Michigan with a $1 surcharge on admission to state tournament games.
"Baseball owners and commissioners turned a blind eye to it for over a decade and they've let that curse of steroids grow like a cancer in the sport," he said. "We should take that as a lesson. If we don't police it, we're telling our kids that cheating is OK, that illegal drugs are good, that winning trumps fair play, and we don't have the guts to enforce the rules because we don't want to rock the vote."