Dear Editor, Your proposal to start drug testing of
student-athletes for steroids during pre-season physicals will have
many unintended but foreseeable negative consequences. In addition
to its high costs (around $125 per test), testing will not teach
children about the harms that steroids and other drugs have on
their bodies. Testing is not the solution to adolescent substance
use and abuse.
Dear Editor,
Your proposal to start drug testing of student-athletes for steroids during pre-season physicals will have many unintended but foreseeable negative consequences. In addition to its high costs (around $125 per test), testing will not teach children about the harms that steroids and other drugs have on their bodies. Testing is not the solution to adolescent substance use and abuse.
Drug testing can also place students at serious risk of potential danger, particularly if a “one strike and you’re out” policy is adopted. Research shows that keeping students engaged in extracurricular activities after school reduces rates of drug and alcohol use, teen pregnancy and juvenile crime.
Schools should endeavor to educate students and develop policies that value honest dialog, science-based evidence and parental involvement. Drug testing alienates and humiliates students without addressing the larger problem of inadequate or non-existent drug education and prevention programs.
Instead of testing, schools and concerned parents should look to science-based drug education and prevention programs that have proven effectiveness and relatively low costs. Two examples of programs that work: Adolescents Training and Learning to Avoid Steroids (ATLAS), which is tailored for student-athletes, and LifeSkills Training, which is appropriate for the entire student population.
Nikos A. Leverenz, Associate Director, Drug Policy Alliance Sacramento
