Pubdate: Mon, 20 Jul 2015
Source: Observer, The (Rio Rancho, NM)
Contact: http://www.rrobserver.com/site/forms/?mode=letters
Copyright: 2015 Rio Rancho Observer.
Website: http://www.rrobserver.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2299

RRPS RANDOM DRUG TESTS SHOULD INCLUDE CHECKS FOR STEROIDS

We applaud the Rio Rancho Public Schools Board of Education for 
adopting the area's first random drug-testing policy for student athletes.

Hopefully, it will go a long way toward making a student who elects 
to go out for a sports team think twice about using alcohol, 
marijuana, amphetamines, opiates and other substances the contractor 
selected to handle the program will test for.

We are disappointed, though, that the program will omit steroid 
tests. While district policy prohibits steroid use, the board was 
informed that testing for them would be too costly to include in the program.

Much as we support the policy as a deterrent against substance abuse 
and recognize there is a larger cost involved, it makes little sense 
to us to leave performance-enhancing drugs out of the mix if the aim 
is to discourage all substance abuse.

The district's coaches may not perceive steroids to be a problem in 
RRPS athletics and we have no particular reason to suspect they are, either.

But as we stated previously in support of the policy, the district's 
become known statewide for its achievements in boys and girls sports 
at Rio Rancho and Cleveland high schools. The number of athletes from 
Rio Rancho who move on to compete collegiately is, indeed, impressive.

The district is rightly proud of that success.

But it should also be committed to preserving the integrity of its 
athletic programs. To skirt the possibility that some athlete would 
be tempted to use steroids, knowing they're not on the test list, 
seems to fall short of that.

Perhaps it's possible to test for steroids randomly but less 
frequently than the tests for other drugs to hold down the costs. In 
our mind, that still would be an effective deterrent and enable the 
district to better enforce its own policy.

It's not too late for the board to reopen that discussion.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom