For many high schools, tests for steroids are too expensive
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Kevin Will is a high school quarterback, a strapping 16-year-old who has been told he has college potential — but needs to get bigger.
While he has never been pressured by coaches to use steroids, the 6-foot, 168-pound Will has seen teammates mixing nutritional supplements into their Gatorade and heard of kids shooting up with steroids in the bathroom of a local gym.
Coaches have lectured Will and his teammates at Sacramento’s Del Oro High School about not using cocaine or marijuana, but have never warned them away from steroids.
“Coaches might say you need to get a little stronger, bulk up a bit,” he testified Thursday at a California state Senate hearing focusing on steroid and supplement use at high schools. “Kids end up taking steroids because they think they have to get bigger.”
High schools nationwide are struggling with rising steroid use, not just among football players battling for college scholarships but also among non-athletes who think bigger biceps will make them more popular.
But most schools cannot afford the costly tests for detecting the illegal bodybuilding drugs. Even those that test for marijuana and cocaine do not check for steroids, which are potentially more destructive.
At Bret Harte High School in Angels Camp, all student athletes and cheerleaders undergo urine tests for marijuana, cocaine and other illegal drugs each season, costing the district about $9,000. Checking for steroids would cost an additional $44,000.
That would be enough money to pay for another teacher.
“For a small district to do this kind of testing would be cost-prohibitive,” said Angels Camp superintendent Joseph Wilimek. “Right now our priority is keeping staff — we’ve had to lay off three teachers and reduce our administrative staff already.”
Steroids soared in popularity among high school students — girls as well as boys — after Mark McGwire hit a record 70 home runs in 1998 while using the supplement androstenedione, a steroid precursor.
In a recent national survey of steroid use, 3.5 percent of high school seniors responding reported they have used steroids at least once, up from 2.1 percent in 1991.
Those figures do not include users of over-the-counter supplements such as andro or the more popular creatine, which are much cheaper than steroids.
“There was a big increase when Mark McGwire broke the home run record. Of course he was using andro, but that may have been a distinction lost on a lot of the kids,” said Lloyd Johnston, who led the University of Michigan survey of 50,000 teenagers. “If you’re looking at a classroom of 30 boys, one of them is using steroids.”
Johnston said steroid use is more prevalent among boys than girls, among whites than blacks and among non-college-bound students than those who plan to attend college. Many of the high school kids who use them are apparently non-athletes simply hoping to appear more buff.
Steroid use appears to be much higher in some parts of the country, particularly the South. In a 2001 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11.2 percent of Louisiana high school boys surveyed reported using steroids and 5.7 percent of Tennessee high school girls acknowledged such use.
Steroids’ side effects can include heart disease, liver damage and rage. They can also stunt growth, shrink testicles and cause girls to grow facial hair.
Many high schools use an NCAA-approved test for marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines and methamphetamine that costs about $22, plus collecting and handling expenses. But a steroid test costs $50 to $100, not counting collecting and handling.
Few school districts are willing to spend that kind of money.
In Florida, state Rep. Marcelo Llorente wants high school athletes to undergo mandatory testing for steroids. His bill, which would require each county to randomly test at least 5 percent of its athletes, was approved unanimously this week by a legislative subcommittee.
To reduce the cost, Llorente wants the tests to be done for about $33 each by the University of Florida veterinary laboratory that now tests samples from horses and greyhounds.
One of the few school systems checking for steroids is the relatively wealthy Paradise Valley district in Phoenix, where random tests have been conducted since 1992. The $50 tests are administered to student athletes involved in everything from football to cheerleading and badminton.
Students participating in sports must sign a drug-testing consent form. Positive tests result in a suspension of 18 weeks from the sport for a first offense and a permanent suspension for a second offense. Results are not shared with law enforcement officials.
“The additional cost of testing for steroids is well worth it if we can protect our kids,” said district spokeswoman Judi Willis. “We also believe the fact that we do this testing has been a deterrent.”
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On the Net:
Youth Risk Behavior survey: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/SS/SS5104.pdf
Monitoring the Future survey: http://www.monitoringthefuture.org