Students across the country continue to report high usage levels of anabolic steroids.  And our nation continues to do almost NOTHING about the problem. Newspapers in Florida are reporting on this troubling trend.  They report that about 4% of students admit to having used steroids.  That’s almost one child in every high school classroom in Florida! The only thing administrators appear to be considering is testing.  We’ve found that testing alone is NOT the answer.  We’re reaching out to Florida leadership to see if we can offer our experience to help them address this problem. Don

Special Report: No funds to test for steroids

Story by John Evenson / CBS 12 News PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Is enough being done to fight rise of steroid use in Palm Beach County High Schools?   The use of steroids is on the rise in Palm Beach County compared to National trends and the rest of Florida according the the Centers for Disease and Prevention. While 3.9 percent of high schoolers in Palm Beach County had taken steroid pills or shots without a doctor’s prescription in 2007 according to their high school youth risk behavior survey, that percentage rose to 4.7 percent in 2011, compared to 3.7 percent for the rest of Florida overall.   “I know many kids who have been on steroids and different kinds of things,” said one high school football player to CBS12 at practice this week,” it’s definitely in high school sports for sure.”   “Obviously it’s an issue,” says Palm Beach Central Head Football Coach Rod Harris, “it’s a concern for every coach every parent for every school.”   The Palm Beach County School District used to test students for drugs, but have since stopped because of lack of funding. It’s a program they’d like to get back.   “We want to ensure our students are healthy and safe,” says Palm Beach County School Board assistant superintendant Keith Oswald, “so if we can help identify those students and get them support and have a healthier life and a better outlook to their futures, absolutely that’s where we want to go.”   The Florida High School Athletics Association recently launched a top to bottom review of existing policies to try and stop the apparent rising use of PED’s. In the meantime, private schools like Jupiter Christian have taken it upon themselves to to their own drug testing, and so far the football program has been clean.   “I really think it’s more prevalent even today than it was just a couple years ago,” says Jupiter Christian Head Football Coach, “so when you see easy results …That doesn’t mean that those kids don’t work hard in the weight room but again they’re getting results that the normal kids aren’t getting ..I can see why it would be an issue.”   That’s the bad part about Alex Rodriguez and anybody else in the limelight is the kids look up to those guys,” says Seminole Ridge Head Football Coach Scott Barnwell, “and they see the and they’re like wow that’s what it takes to get to that level, and you just have to tell them for every Rodriguez there are still hundreds and hundreds of guys who have done it the right way.”

http://www.cbs12.com/sports/stories/vid_503.shtml