The Texas Senate this afternoon passed by a vote of 28-2 a steroid testing bill for Longhorn state youth.  Story here at WFAA.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.

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.

Steroid Nation would love to get our data out there from 9 years
worth of high school surveys, but the review board holds everything up
these days.  However…

We wonder about the effectiveness of high school testing. 

The
prevalence of steroid use can be from 2-10%  at some time in high
school, not at one point in time, by surveys.  We don’t know
the calender correlations of this use say summer or school-year.  We
can only guess at the use by sport.  We are not sure completely of the
drugs used since many cannot be found in lab tests.  And we cannot be
sure of the effectiveness of the lab results:  quality control etc.
Are the costs of steroid and drug testing justified?

As anyone can read, Steroid Nation is concerned about drug-cheats.
However, once a door is opened to testing there needs to be a
controlled deliberate plan in place.  Positive results will be
challenged in court.  The testing procedure needs to be carefully
implemented and documented as well as medical labs in hospitals.  Are
Texas high schools ready for all this?

Further, high school athletes bear the brunt of steroid testing.
There is evidence that non-athletes suffering from the Adonis Complex
(the desire for muscularity) use as many anabolics as athletes.  Who
tests these kids?

The testing in New Jersey has not shown one positive test among high school athletes.  What will testing in Texas show?