Few caught by steroid testing in high school

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. — At one time, testing high school athletes for steroids was seen as the best way to fight performance-enhancing drug use among the young. Now, those efforts are losing steam because of high costs and few positive results.

New Jersey, Florida, Texas and Illinois have tried steroid testing since 2006, and an examination of the results by The Associated Press shows that only 20 tests out of 30,799 have come back positive.

That's far short of what one study concluded about use of the drugs that are associated with stunted growth, hormonal problems, strokes and heart ailments. University of Michigan surveys conducted in 2007 and '08 each found 2.2 percent of seniors said they had tried steroids at least once — down from 4 percent in 2002.

Testing advocates argue that results from the four states show the program works as a deterrent. Critics say they show the flaws in how the tests were conducted. Either way, it's becoming harder amid a recession to justify spending up to $200 each on tests that rarely catch cheaters.

Missouri state Sen. Matt Bartle tried to push his colleagues to adopt a statewide high school steroid testing program because he was concerned that young athletes were emulating the bad habits of some professionals.

But when Florida dropped its program in 2008 after a costly one-year trial in which there was only one positive out of 600 students tested, Bartle decided a similar effort wouldn't be cost-effective in Missouri, and he didn't submit a proposal this year.

"Is there enough steroid use out there that spending a couple million bucks a year against everything else that the state needs to spend money on is worth it?" Bartle asked.

The state programs grew out of health concerns and doping scandals in baseball, cycling and track and field. Last month, New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez became the latest name tied to performance-enhancing drugs, admitting he used them while with the Texas Rangers from 2001-03.

All four states chose athletes at random. In New Jersey and Illinois, only those on teams in state tournaments were subject to the testing, while all athletes in Texas were, although no tests were given in the summer after the academic and athletic year is over. In Florida, all participants in six sports (baseball, football, softball, girls' flag football and boys' and girls' weightlifting) were eligible.

The AP's examination of the states' steroid tests showed limited impact when it came to catching users: