Education Program
Steroids and Performance-enhancing Drugs
Steroid use among student athletes has increased substantially over the past decade. According to results from the 2005 Monitoring the Future Study, 1.7 percent of 8th graders, 2.0 percent of 10th graders and 2.6 percent of 12th graders reported using steroids at least once in their lifetime. The relative ease of obtaining steroids is higher than the rates of reported use, with 18.1 percent of 8th grades, 29.7 percent of 10th graders and 39.7 percent of 12th graders surveyed reporting that steroids were "fairly easy" or "very easy" to obtain. The same survey found that 56.8 percent of 12th graders surveyed reported that using steroids was a "great risk."
Additionally, according to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System Survey in 2005 conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4 percent of all high school students surveyed had taken steroids one or more times during their life without a doctor's prescription.
State Action
Congressional attention to steroid use among professional athletes, staggering national statistics showing an increase of steroid use among teens and the green light from the U.S. Supreme court to allow drug testing of all students participating in extracurricular activities have converged to prompt state legislatures to take action. Although drug testing authority, random or mandatory, remains by-and-large at the local level, several states have introduced legislation aimed at curbing student drug use. California, Illinois, New Jersey and Pennsylvania require or encourage school districts to provide steroid abuse prevention education instruction in the classroom. California and New Jersey require or encourage school districts to offer in-service workshops and training on substance abuse to teachers and staff. Ohio and Pennsylvania require the posting of signs warning students of the harmful effects of anabolic steroids in locker rooms and athletic facilities. Michigan and Minnesota have bolstered their criminal penalties for individuals who are found possessing or selling steroids. Michigan also requires school districts to develop policies indicating that a pupil's use of performance-enhancing drugs would affect his or her eligibility to participate in interscholastic athletes, and requires the Department of Community Health (DCH) to distribute to schools a list of performance-enhancing substances.
Maine prohibits the use of performance-enhancing substances by students participating in interscholastic sports and requires when to sign a form indicating that they will abstain from using such substances. Maine also requires coaches, athletic directors and physical education teachers to be trained on the dangers of the use of such substances. Further, Maine requires the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a performance-enhancing substance list, to publish the list on its web page and to notify the Department of Education of the list. Texas requires the University Interscholastic League to develop a steroid education program and conduct a detailed study regarding the extent of illegal steroid use by high school students, including students engaged in extracurricular athletic activities sponsored or sanction by the league. Virginia's law provides that the High School League establish penalties for student athletes who test positive for anabolic steroids. Virginia law also requires the Virginia Board of Education to suspend or revoke the administrative or teaching license of any person who procures, sells or administers anabolic steroids.
New Jersey has become the first state to institute a statewide steroid policy. In accordance with Executive Order 72, signed by Governor Richard Codey on December 20, 2005, the
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) is responsible for developing and implementing a program for testing a random selection of student athletes, who have qualified, as individuals or members of a team, for champioFnship games. The testing is scheduled to being with the 2006-2007 school year and the state's interscholastic athletic association will oversee it. Before participating in interscholastic sports, student-athletes and their parents or guardians must consent, in writing, to the random drug testing. All athletes participating in interscholastic sports who have advanced to the championship competition are eligible for random testing. Sixty percent of all tests will come from students who participate in football, wrestling, track and field, swimming, lacrosse and baseball.
Any student athlete who possesses, ingests or otherwise uses any substance on the approved list of more than 80 banned substances, without prescription by a fully licensed physician, as recognized by the American Medical Association, to treat a medical condition, will be considered in violation of the NJSIAA's sportsmanship rule and be subject to the association's penalties. A student athlete who tests positively, refuses to take the test or reports his or her own violation, shall immediately forfeit his or her eligibility to participate in the NJSIAA competition for one year and must undergo counseling. Results of all tests will be considered confidential and will only be disclosed to the individual, his or her parents and the school.
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