Shift steroid testing dollars from students to cops

Kuff criticizes the high-school athletics steroid testing that this blog has derided since its inception, noting that "About 50,000 tests since February 2008 have found only about 20 confirmed cases of steroid use." Chuck opines that the program at one point cost $3 million per year before it was scaled back in reaction to reports of its ineffectiveness. "It’s now down to $750K," he says, "Which ought to be the first thing erased from the budget next biennium, since clearly we’re spending all that money on a non-problem."

I certainly understand that sentiment. I'd suggest, though, that funds for steroid testing not be eliminated entirely but instead redirected to an area where we know there's a much more significant problem than in high school sports: Steroid use among law enforcement. After a high-profile steroid dealer in Plano who was accused of selling illicit drugs to cops and professional athletes died of gunshot wounds along with his bodybuilder girlfriend, Plano authorities chose to aggressively pursue his athlete clients but didn't investigate who were his police officer customers. Only one of the five agencies at which he allegedly sold drugs implemented steroid testing in response. Too often, police agencies tolerate steroid use among their own even while investigating others for the same offense.

There are so many high school athletes that spending $750K can't remotely check everybody, and even when they do test, only 2 in 10,000 athletes come up positive. OTOH, that much money aimed at steroid testing a much smaller number of active-duty law enforcement officers would allow for much broader coverage among a group where there's a lot more evidence that steroid use is a widespread, significant problem. Right now, in most cases investigators - federal, state and local - fail to take the most obvious first steps toward investigating steroid use among police, even when they have evidence that would allow such an inquiry. (If you're a celebrity sports star, though, they'll spare no expense to hang you out to dry.)

Steroid testing on student athletes turned out to be well-intentioned but unnecessary. Perhaps if police were tested, we'd similarly discover that a de minimis number were using steroids, at which point I'd argue, just like with athletes, that it's simply not necessary if it's catching so few. OTOH, there's good reason to suspect steroid use among police is much more widespread than among high school student athletes, and if the state is going to invest in steroid testing, it makes a lot more sense to put resources there.