Steroid Drug Testing Research Paper

The NCAA can also prove that there is effectiveness behind the program. Positive tests have hovered around one percent mark for several years now. Since most students know about the test well in advanced it gives them a chance to get the illegal substances out of their body, but NCAA has started to do random drug testing that can catch those athletes. The association will spend more around three million dollars on drug testing. College athletes will take supplements to mask the use of steroids, so a laboratory in California is working to find different kind of supplements that will mask steroids so drug test can also pick them up. “Athletes frequently use supplements as a masking of real steroids, and it normally backfires,” says Gary
Green. Most college athletes know the phrase “win at all cost” it can point to the stringent but thoughtful limits they’ve placed on winning with drugs (citation). The reason why the NCAA has been so successful with their drug testing program id because most college athletes want to move on to the professional level for sports such as football, basketball, baseball, and volleyball. When college athletes take performance enhancing drugs they do not want to risk that chance of going pro. When testing high school and college athletes some people might think that when schools perform a drug test that it can go pass the privacy of the students and it can be harmful to them.
In many states, including Arkansas, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, and Washington there has been lawsuits filed against the school districts for their drug testing policies. Parents say that innocent students will be punished and their rights will be violated because if an innocent student tests positive for a drug test because there was a glitch in the testing, this can be a very serious accusation to a student who is guilty (Citation). It goes past the students’ privacy because when the athlete is taking the illicit substance they are trying to help themselves be better at the sport they are playing in, and this is their way to play at the next level in sports. If they were to get caught with these drugs in their system, it can put them on probation and possibly get them suspended from the team which can ruin their chances at getting a scholarship for college, and moving on to the professional level from college. Most people say that it can harm student athletes in an emotional and mental state, but what parents do not know is that it can affect the student physical especially if the student is taking substances and is playing in high impact sports which can put the athlete at a higher risk for head, and other body injuries. Schools wanted to start
testing athletes because school officials realize that playing a team sport is something students should not take for granted, and it can hurt the drug-free athletes as well. Random drug testing is a barrier to joining extracurricular activities. In the Tulia Independent School District, a female student explains “I know lots of kids who don’t want to get into sports and stuff because they don’t want to get drug tested. That’s one of the reasons I’m not into any activities because I am on medication, so I would always test positive, and then they would have to ask me about my medication, and I would be embarrassed. What if I was on my period?” However, that is not always the case because research shows that student who participate in extracurricular activities are less likely to develop substance abuse problems, less likely to engage in other dangerous behavior such as violent crime, and more likely to stay in school, earn higher grades, and set and achieve more ambitious educational goals. Parents and students think that the policies may prevent some students from engaging in these activities, but research shows that incidences of adolescent drug use and other dangerous behavior occurs during the unsupervised hours between the end of class and parents’ return home from work these are the times when students can be participating in after school activities instead of getting in trouble (citation). The biggest problem that parents have with drug testing in high school and college is that the drug testing cost a huge amount of money, and the parents are normally paying for the test to take place.
The NCAA will spend more than three million dollars in testing with the amount of athletes they have. High schools will pay from twenty-five dollars to fifty dollars for every test that is ordered for the athletes. For every drug test schools conduct, every drug that is screen has a different cost to them. For example, an LSD drug screen can cost up to twenty-two to twenty-five dollars each. Parents should not worry about the cost if they want their children to be safe while playing sports. No matter how much money each drug test may cost parents should be thankful that drug testing in being administered because it helps keep your child safe, and with the less drugs to screen for the less money that the schools have to
spend. Hundreds and even thousands of student athletes might be tested in order to detect a tiny fraction of athletes who may have used drugs covered by the test. If schools rely on drug testing, they may undervalue better ways of detecting young people who are having problems with drugs. To avoid drug testing, athletes might turn to drugs that are not yet detectable to a drug test. They might even start to binge drinking because alcohol is not one of the main things tested for in a drug test, so they have a less chance of getting in trouble for underage drinking. Binge drinking is less detectable, and it can create greater health and safety risk for athletes. Marijuana is the most detectable drug, so students may switch to drugs they think that will not be detected on the test, like ecstasy or inhalants (citation). Most student athletes know that they are not guilty until proven innocent. With random drug testing, it helps students learn the lesson that they are guilty until they can produce a clean urine sample. In order to help schools in the future, school officials can start administering test at the starting of the season, and then as the season starts to progress they can start to do random testing. This is when they pick two athletes randomly, so the students do not think they can just go back to taking performance enhancing drug. Random drug testing can help decrease drug use. Normally, ten percent of students are randomly selected from a pool for an additional drug test. Students normally think that once they are selected for random testing they cannot be picked again, but the names are all put back into the drawing. This helps by keeping performance enhancing drugs off of the playing field. When tested positive for a drug test doctors and parents would be alerted to drug use in their children. Parents could then choose whether to tie further participation in team sports to their kids getting help and getting clean. It would help make a statement that it can cost you playing the sport you love. Coaches and assistant coaches should be encouraged to get tested, and show the results to their teams. Coaches can be leaders from the sidelines, and help their athletes do well during games. There are many ways as to why schools should start conducting drug testing. By drug testing, it can help make the playing field fair because athletes who do not use drugs can get severely hurt, and the one taking the drug can also get badly hurt because the drugs can weaken their system so they are now an easy target for injuries. By making the playing field fair, it gives those who do no chose to take performance drugs time to play, and show their talent. Testing can also help decrease health and safety risks because when taking certain drugs’, it can lead to long-term damage. Long-term damage can result in men and women. Statistics have also proven that testing in high school and college athletes has been effective. Putting drug testing into effect has helped students thrive in the classroom, and be discipline on the field. Performance enhancing drugs have become increasingly popular around high school and college. These athletes see professional athletes in newspapers and magazines talking about how they take performance drugs, so they then think it is okay to take them also. What student athletes do not realize is that its risking their future. Participating in team sports is a privilege, not a right.