GAINESVILLE - A Hall County parent Monday night said he wanted steroids added to the list of drugs for random testing at Hall County schools at a public hearing on expanding the program to include student drivers with parking permits.
Jim Wilson has two sons who are athletes and he said steroids should be on the list because of the threat they pose and the publicity the drugs have generated.
"If maybe they took the random sampling that they're doing and do 1 percent or 10 percent of that," Wilson said.
Wilson added that cost should not be a factor in testing for steroids among student athletes.
System athletic director Gordon Higgins said steroid testing is costly, and according to student surveys abuse is low compared to other drugs.
"At the 10th grade level and below it's less than 1 percent. When you get to the junior level, maybe 1 percent, at the senior level, maybe 2 percent," Higgins said. "You would spend as much on one steroid test as you would conducting a test on 10 other students."
Higgins added that every high school athlete has to undergo a physical, and steroid signs could show up.
"It could be detected if there's something with blood pressure or other things they could note," Higgins said.
Higgins said for now any steroid problem needs to be handled one on one between a coach who suspects abuse and the athlete.
The Hall school board is expected to act on extending the drug test program to include student drivers at its regular meeting next month.
Higgins said there was no opposition to expanding the testing.
Wilson complimented the school system for the drug test program, intended as a deterrent, but said where steroids are concerned, it does not go far enough.
Thursday
October 17th, 2024
6:06PM
