Don Hooton, the nation’s biggest proponents of steroid education, is disappointed and not in favor of the lawmakers’ plan of slashing the budget for steroid testing in Texas high schools. The founder of the Plano-based Taylor Hooton Foundation said that the program is still important though only few athletes were tested positive for steroid use. The Texas program was first passed in 2007 and aims to test up to 50,000 students by the end of June. It is considered as the largest, and at $6 million, the most expensive, in the country. Athletes from all sports will be tested by the National Center for Drug Free Sport using a urine sample. The House and the Senate already made a deal to cut the budget by two-thirds in the 2010-2011 budget.

Hooton said that he is “glad however they are leaving a significant program intact.” “I hope it’s still large enough that kids feel there’s a reasonable chance of getting caught if they decide to do steroids.” Meanwhile, the Associated Press has recently examined the results of the tests done on high school athletes from Texas, New Jersey, Florida, and Illinois. The result shows that only 20 students out of the 30,799 were positive and six were granted with medical exemptions.

Those in favor of abolishing the program such as Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, said that it is a “colossal waste of taxpayer money.” Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano also said that the lawmakers were already convinced that the program should be scaled back but not completely abolished.

Hooton compared the on-going steroid problem to a high school that puts up metal detectors to keep guns out. He said that when a number of guns decreases, administrators believe the problem is solved and take down the metal detectors. The state only tests for 10 steroids. There are actually at least 100 types of steroids and are potential masking agents. It is still unclear whether high school athletes are sophisticated enough to hide their steroid use from the tests. “This program isn’t designed to tell you if you’ve got a problem or not,” Hooton said. “This program is designed to be a deterrent. That we had low positive results suggest maybe the program is working just as it should be.”

The Taylor Hooton Foundation has teamed up with the Major League Baseball’s Strength and Conditioning Coaches and Drug Enforcement Administration. His son, Taylor Hooton, committed suicide on July 2003 for steroid use. The said program aims to teach the local kids on the physical and psychological dangers of steroid abuse. It will also teach the kids about proper exercise and diet without using steroids.

According to Hooton, Taylor had been told by his coach to bulk up if he wanted to be in his team’s starting rotation. So Taylor went to the gym, where teammates introduced him to the secret of their workout regimens. The high school athletes did not even know the names of neither substances nor the right way to use them, Hooton said. That is why the Hooton foundation will focus on educating coaches, parents and athletes about steroids. Alex Rodriguez, who is also in the middle of the steroid controversy, also partnered with Hooton and agreed to a vague relationship with the Taylor Hooton Foundation.

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