Like Sen. Patrick, I've long thought these tests were a "colossal waste of money." I'd suggested testing police officers - for whom the issue is a more serious, documented problem - might get more bang for the public policy buck than going after high school students. When the budget is tight, though, there are many competing demands for that $6 million, nearly all of which would be more productive than this program turned out to be.The results so far have found little to confirm fears that steroid use is a rampant problem. When the first 10,000 tests found only four positive results, critics declared the two-year program a waste of time and money.
Now state lawmakers must decide whether to keep the $6 million program chugging along, scale it down or eliminate it. The 2009 legislative session starts Tuesday. ...
Critics rolled their eyes when the first results were released.
According to a University Interscholastic League report released Dec. 1, the first 10,117 tests produced only the four confirmed cases of steroid use. ...
Republican state Sen. Dan Patrick has been a vocal critic of the tests, calling them a "colossal waste of taxpayer money" that could be better spent battling recreational drug and alcohol use among teens.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Tight state budget, minimal results may doom HS steroid testing
AP's Jim Vertuno says that de minimus results and the looming budget crisis may combine to eliminate Texas' $6 million per year steroid testing program for high school athletes:
Many cities and counties have random drug testing policies. The problem is they do not test randomly enough.
ReplyDeleteBan smoking in the workplace and public spaces in Texas.
ReplyDeleteDrug test the ones who say drug testing is needed, including the legislature.
ReplyDeleteThe original purpose of the program was probably to give some politician a better crack at being re-elected. Worried parents don't know what to do about kids on drugs and are prone to swallow this nonsense about spending umpteen million dollars on the testing of high school atheletes.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a War On Drugs, you need to have a campaign to whip the public into a war hysteria that will support such boondoggles as DARE or drug testing of high school jocks.
"The original purpose of the program was probably to give some politician a better crack at being re-elected.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to know the original purpose, go to
http://www.gdcada.org/statistics/steroids/taylor1.htm
and read about a 17 year old Plano West High School baseball player Taylor Hooton, who just a few weeks before he was to start his senior year at Plano West, draped a pair of belts over his bedroom door and hanged himself, the victim of what his parents believe was steroid-related depression.
8:52 - In law school the logical fallacy in that equation is referred to as "post hoc ergo propter hoc" - after this, therefore because of this.
ReplyDeleteLots of high school kids suffer from depression and teen suicide rates are high, so why do they think Taylor Hooton killed himself because of steroids? Has any doctor or mental health expert said so?
Republican state Sen. Dan Patrick has been a vocal critic of the tests, calling them a "colossal waste of taxpayer money" that could be better spent battling recreational drug and alcohol use among teens.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it IS a waste of money. Here's a tip, parenting gives better rewards. If parents actually paid attention to their kids, and do something when they see little Bobby develop outrageous body mass when he does not have the genetics to do so, they might actually save their kid's lives.
This is the thing. Parents have, since the 70's, forgotten how to parent the kids. Then they blame everyone else for their child getting messed up in what ever happens. I can think of several instances where parents could avoided issues in their kids life by properly parenting their kids. Adam Walsh was not an accident, John and his mother were not parenting him at 6 years old, who leaves a kid alone in a video arcade? The two kids at Columbine, You think their parents didn't notice them hanging out all day long looking like a couple of hooligans, dressing in long trenchcoats? And they did nothing...
"It's a phase" are the worst three words ever heard in one sentence.
To Anon 9:46
ReplyDeleteSteroids enable athletes to work out harder and build up muscle. But in addition to potential physical dangers such as liver damage and heart disease, experts say, steroid use can create psychological trauma.
Dr. Harrison Pope, the director of the biological psychiatry laboratory at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School, said in a interview that in addition to the aggressive behavior often linked with steroid use, the withdrawal from using can lead to depression and, in extreme cases, suicide.
U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona told the Associated Press that the problem of steroid use was "less a moral and ethical issue than it is a public health issue. If youngsters are seeing their role models practicing this kind of behavior and it seems acceptable, then we need to do something about that because it is a health risk."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/12/19/MNG14AEB7S1.DTL
It is well documented in medical literature that when someone goes off steroids, testosterone levels are low and depression – sometimes severe -- can set in.
ReplyDelete8:52 - In law school the logical fallacy in that equation is referred to as "post hoc ergo propter hoc" - after this, therefore because of this.
ReplyDeleteSure, correlation does not equal causation. Except when it does.
See the pet theft story. That one and this one are identical--the laws were both created in response to a single instance, easily traced back to the Mayor stealign a dog, or one kid hanging himself.
I think what you meant to say was that legislation shouldn't be based on single occurrences. But it often is, and 8:52 is right about this one.
Lots of high school kids suffer from depression and teen suicide rates are high, so why do they think Taylor Hooton killed himself because of steroids? Has any doctor or mental health expert said so?
Well I imagine his parents are looking to blame someone, as is normal when a child is lost.
Even if Taylor Hooten committed suicide because of steroid use, it does not follow that there is a compelling need to spend millions of dollars testing every high school athlete in the state.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that this program died an instant death when the Comptroller's revenue projection came out this morning. That made ME depressed.
hooray!
ReplyDeleteHey Dickson,
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of millions of dollars, where does the money go that we spend to get our vehicles inspected annually?
I heard part of it goes to a retirement fund. Is that true?
A portion of vehicle inspection revenues used to go to the Law Enforcement and Corrections Officers Supplemental (LECOS) Retirement Fund, but has not done so for several years now.
ReplyDeleteDickson,
ReplyDeleteHow is this retirement fund now funded?
"Like Sen. Patrick, I've long thought these tests were a "colossal waste of money." I'd suggested testing police officers -for whom the issue is a more serious, documented problem"
ReplyDeleteGrits-Did anything come about the allegations that were made by the Plano steroids dealer?
On the Plano steroids dealer, the only responses I ever heard were Plano PD's best Officer Barbrady impressions declaring, "Move along, nothing to see here."
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing from their silence on the topic Plano PD exonerated itself - it was an internal investigation.
I've still never heard of anybody besides that guy who supposedly tried to commit suicide by shooting themselves in the abdomen before a coup de grace in the head. Weird.
"A portion of vehicle inspection revenues used to go to the Law Enforcement and Corrections Officers Supplemental (LECOS) Retirement Fund, but has not done so for several years now."
ReplyDeleteMr. Dickson,
How this account funded today? Where do MVI fees go now?
Grits- Do you know of any state retirement programs like this one that are funded by fees paid by taxpayers?
waste of money anyway ..... these kids have parents and if parents have concerns then they should take the steps to get their kids tested ... just another program where the government steps in as the parent
ReplyDeleteTaylor Hooton suicide is tragedy but do you know this!! Taylor's girlfriend Emily parker had another boyfriend little over a year after Taylor's suicide had another boyfriend who hung himself in the same fashion as Taylor. Jason Shea Green of Carrollton Texas. that's a huge secret of the Hootons. you may ask how I know this. I live in Plano Texas. I was close to Taylor. Jason Green wasn't on steroids or SSRI. Makes you think. why don't they investigate Emily parker. Two young men commit Suicide by hanging a year apart have the same girlfriend. If this was homicide Emily would be a top suspect don't you think. Please help me expose this to the masses. Don hooton is a fool!
ReplyDeleteOh my god, there is a great deal of helpful data above!
ReplyDelete