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High School Drug Testing: Everything is bigger in Texas
Contributed by Chris Nordby, Director of High School Services at the National Center for Drug Free Sport, Inc.
Everything is bigger in Texas, including drug-testing programs. The University Interscholastic League (UIL), the governing body that oversees high school sports in Texas, is halfway through the fifth year of operating a year-round, random high school anabolic steroid testing program. The testing program, which started in the fall of 2007, has gone through annual budget cuts and a reduction of participating schools and student-athletes, yet still exists as the nation’s largest high school anabolic steroid testing program.
The testing program was created to meet the requirements of Senate Bill 8, otherwise known as Taylor’s Law, which was passed by the 80th Texas Legislature in 2007. The program serves as a deterrent for student-athletes who may consider using anabolic steroids. During the first two years of the program, 800 high schools and approximately 45,000 student-athletes were selected for testing. During the 2011-2012 academic year, 220 schools and more than 3,300 student-athletes will participate in the anabolic steroid testing program.
The UIL has contracted with Drug Free Sport since 2007 to handle the complete administration of the anabolic steroid testing program. Drug Free Sport randomly selects the high schools that will participate in the testing program. Once a high school is notified of its selection to participate in the testing program, the school provides Drug Free Sport a complete list of all student-athletes who participate in UIL athletic activities during the academic year. Drug Free Sport then randomly selects the student-athletes who will be required to submit to the test.
If a student-athlete is found to be in violation of the UIL steroid testing policy, he or she is rendered ineligible to compete in UIL athletic activities for 30 school days for a first offense. The student-athlete must then submit to another urine test and receive a negative result in order to regain eligibility.
The anabolic steroid program will continue to operate in its current form and scope through the 2012-2013 academic year. The Texas Legislature will then decide whether to continue, modify or cancel the program. Drug Free Sport will continue to work with the UIL to evaluate the testing program and recommend improvements to increase its effectiveness in helping student-athletes refrain from using anabolic steroids.