Txbroadcaster
04-10-2007, 04:41 PM
04:09 PM CDT on Tuesday, April 10, 2007
By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News
tstutz@dallasnews.com
AUSTIN – Thousands of Texas high school athletes would be randomly tested for steroids in one of the largest student drug testing programs in the nation, under a bill approved by the Senate Tuesday.
Also Online
Capitol Letters: Blogging the Texas Legislature
The program, approved on a 28-2 vote, would start in the 2007-08 school year, and it would require an estimated 22,000 student athletes to submit to steroid testing. A positive result would force the student to be suspended from competition for at least 30 days.
A second positive test would sideline the student for one year, and a third would result in a permanent ban from extracurricular sports.
The House is expected to approve a similar bill later Tuesday, and once differences in the two are resolved, legislation would be sent to Gov. Rick Perry for his signature.
“It will make high school athletics safer, and help many high school athletes avoid the temptation that many come to in their endeavor to get better” in their sport, said Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston, author of the legislation.
Asked by another senator whether steroid use is widespread in high school sports in Texas, Dr. Janek said anecdotal reports indicate that there is a serious problem but that its extent is hard to quantify.
“Until we randomly test students, I don’t know that we will truly get our arms around the problem,” Dr. Janek said.
Under his bill, the random tests must pick up at least 3 percent of the UIL athletes in Texas every year, and tests must be administered at no less than 30 percent of the high schools in the state. There are about 733,000 high school athletes in Texas.
The state would pay the estimated $2.8 million cost of the program. But in the House measure, the UIL – which regulates high school sports – would assess a fee on sporting event tickets to pay for the drug testing program.
“If the state is going to require these tests, the state should pay for it,” Dr. Janek said. “That’s better than saying to the parents and students, ‘We don’t know if you’re innocent or guilty, but you’re going to pay for it anyway.’ ”
By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News
tstutz@dallasnews.com
AUSTIN – Thousands of Texas high school athletes would be randomly tested for steroids in one of the largest student drug testing programs in the nation, under a bill approved by the Senate Tuesday.
Also Online
Capitol Letters: Blogging the Texas Legislature
The program, approved on a 28-2 vote, would start in the 2007-08 school year, and it would require an estimated 22,000 student athletes to submit to steroid testing. A positive result would force the student to be suspended from competition for at least 30 days.
A second positive test would sideline the student for one year, and a third would result in a permanent ban from extracurricular sports.
The House is expected to approve a similar bill later Tuesday, and once differences in the two are resolved, legislation would be sent to Gov. Rick Perry for his signature.
“It will make high school athletics safer, and help many high school athletes avoid the temptation that many come to in their endeavor to get better” in their sport, said Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston, author of the legislation.
Asked by another senator whether steroid use is widespread in high school sports in Texas, Dr. Janek said anecdotal reports indicate that there is a serious problem but that its extent is hard to quantify.
“Until we randomly test students, I don’t know that we will truly get our arms around the problem,” Dr. Janek said.
Under his bill, the random tests must pick up at least 3 percent of the UIL athletes in Texas every year, and tests must be administered at no less than 30 percent of the high schools in the state. There are about 733,000 high school athletes in Texas.
The state would pay the estimated $2.8 million cost of the program. But in the House measure, the UIL – which regulates high school sports – would assess a fee on sporting event tickets to pay for the drug testing program.
“If the state is going to require these tests, the state should pay for it,” Dr. Janek said. “That’s better than saying to the parents and students, ‘We don’t know if you’re innocent or guilty, but you’re going to pay for it anyway.’ ”