Missouri Senator Proposes High School Steroid Tests

A state senator has toned down a proposal to randomly test Missouri's high school athletes for steroids because of concerns it would cost too much.


Instead, Sen. Matt Bartle outlined a new plan Tuesday to randomly test only a sampling of athletes participating in high school playoffs or postseason competition. The cost would be borne by the fans, in the form of higher postseason admission fees collected by the statewide nonprofit group that oversees sporting events.

Bartle presented his proposal to a Missouri Senate committee on the same day that Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig testified to Congress about how it was dealing with steroid use among its professional athletes.


Florida, New Jersey and Texas already have passed state laws requiring random drug tests for high school athletes. The Illinois High School Association board on Monday approved random drug testing during postseason play. That policy covers about 95 percent of the state's high schools.


Bartle, R-Lee's Summit, said Missouri lawmakers and coaches would be naive if they didn't believe steroids were a problem for high school athletes.


Random testing "is critically important for not only the safety of the students, but critically important to protect the integrity of the games," Bartle told fellow members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which he is chairman.

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