With the news that there were two positive steroids tests out of 10,000 high school athletes in the first year of a $6 million drug-testing program in Texas, are you still in favor of the drug-testing program the IHSA approved this spring?
Now, $6 million is a lot of money. I'm sure that even in Texas, that kind of scratch can go a long way. I won't rail against it as a waste of time, or a waste of money as at least one Lone Star politico has.
A critic, Republican state Sen. Dan Patrick, said the initiative is a "feel good" program that is not acting as a deterrent and should be abolished.
In some ways, I agree with Sen. Patrick. But when he says the money should be spent for teen alchohol prevention, he loses me. There isn't enough money in the world -- not even all the money we borrow from China -- to stop kids from drinking.
If a couple hundred kids tested positive for steroids, I'm sure Sen. Patrick would be on the other side of the issue talking up family values and whatnot, and it's too bad he's not because I'm a huge fan of whatnot.
I wrote in March that the IHSA program has its flaws. I also think it's worth it if it only catches the stupid, because the stupid are certainly in line for some help.
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