Steroids testing in high school still effective even if fewer students are tested
The Texas Legislature has the biggest steroids testing program among high school students. It is also perhaps the most expensive steroid program for high school students.
According to Mark Cousins, officer-in-charge of the state’s steroid testing programs for all high school athletes, out of the 45,193 students tested, only 19 turned out positive.
Anti-steroids activists believe that the program is effective in deterring any use of performance-enhancing drugs. Students who underwent the testing program also believe that testing could deter the use of steroids since a lot of kids are scared of being caught.
Taylor Hooton Foundation president Dan Hooton believes that the program is doing its job. He believes that the testing program could have saved his son’s life.
However, he also feared that the results of the program might be misinterpreted. Many civil folks would think that the program is a total waste of time and money, considering the few positive results brought about by the program.
Linn Goldberg, an Oregon Health and Science University Professor, thinks that the low number of positives has something to do more with the testing program than problems with steroids.
She concluded that the number of students tested every year must be increased by 50 percent, in order for statistics to become relevant.
According to WBur:
Hooton does say something that Golbderg, Cousins and the national anti-steroids activists all agree with: Testing isn’t the No. 1 tool in the fight against steroids — it’s education.
The Texas Legislature has decided to cut its steroid testing program by two-thirds this year. The sponsor of the original bill says even if 30,000 fewer students are tested, the program will still act as an effective deterrent.
