Texas Governor Rick Perry is of the opinion that steroid-use among teens is not a big problem in his state as shown in the results from extensive steroid testing programs in high schools across Texas. Perry suggests that lawmakers should consider scaling down the budget for, and scope of, steroid testing. The budget for steroid testing in Texas, as passed in 2007, amounts to $6 million for testing 50,000 athletes in public schools until the end of June 2009. So far, the first 10,000 steroid tests have revealed only four positives for steroid use. The second batch of results has not yet been disclosed, but was said to include football players.

The $6 million steroid testing program was one of Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s top priorities in 2007, and Perry, who is also a Republican, signed the bill into law. It is the most expensive and largest steroid testing program for high schools in the country. The program enlists the aid of the National Center of Drug Free Sport who tests the athletes from various sports using urine samples. Male and female athletes are selected randomly to provide their urine sample.

Perry told the Associated Press that with the way the program is structured, it reveals that there is no large-scale steroid program in the state, and that on the surface, this is what 4 out of 10,000 is saying. He said that the program “may be a bit too much money” and too much work for the return.

The good news, Perry added, is that the program has showed that kids are not as “enthralled” with steroids and other performance enhancing drugs as some people seemed to think back in 2007. Perry also said that he does not have a problem with leaving some kind of program as a deterrent, in place of the existing (and expensive) one, asking “Do we need to test every kid in school?”

Don Hooton, anti-steroids crusader, disagrees with Perry and says that the results of the program may be a proof of its effectiveness in preventing high school kids from taking steroids. Hooton said that the program is not designed to tell whether there is a problem or not, but is designed to be a deterrent. With the low positive results, this may suggest that the program is perfectly working as it should be. Hooton believes that the low positive result is not necessarily a sign that the kids are not taking steroids.

It could mean that either the tests are deterring steroid use or that the tests are not sufficient enough since it only searches for 10 banned steroids. To support his claim, Hooton cited a study done by Texas A&M which showed that about 2 percent of high school students in Texas had used steroids. A similar study conducted by the University of Michigan in 2006 approximated steroid usage at 2.7 percent.

Hooton said that at this point, it is too early to conclude whether there is a problem or not. He is disappointed to see the stance of Governor Perry being taken before all the results from the field are in.

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