Mandatory Steroid Testing in Florida

ESPN Rise reports February 17th that officials for the Florida High School Athletics Association (FHSAA) have confirmed that a pilot-steroid testing program targeting Florida’s high school athletes will be eliminated because the state’s government “cannot justify spending the $100,000 needed to do the testing.”

Cristina Alvarez, spokeswoman for the FHSAA, states, “We completely understand. We know that money has to go to certain things right now to help the entire state, not just one association.”

The program, put into effect back in 2007, aimed to provide testing for steroids for any Florida high school athlete participating in football, baseball, or weightlifting. Any athlete that refused to provide a urine sample faced being declared ineligible to remain on their respective team, but could be reinstated at a later time if the individual in question was able to pass a follow-up test.

The article notes that in the two years mandatory testing has been in effect, only one individual out of a total 600 athletes tested was determined to have taken steroids. Testing was done randomly at 53 different high schools throughout the state of Florida, with each analysis costing $166 dollars. The Florida High School Athletics Association was in charge of supervising the testing.

With Florida now abandoning mandatory testing of high school athletes for steroids, only three states – New Jersey, Illinois, and Texas – now remain which require those students who play sports in high school to be undergo checks for steroid usage.