AUSTIN, Texas, May 13 (UPI) -- The Texas House passed a bill Friday that creates a steroid education program and authorizes a study on the extent of steroid abuse in high schools.
The University Interscholastic League, which regulates high school athletics in Texas, would develop the education program for parents, students and coaches. The study would determine the extent of the problem and then whether the program was effective.
"This information will lay the foundation for the Texas Legislature to implement mandatory steroid testing if we don't see progress in confronting the use of steroids," said Republican Rep. Phil King, the author of the bill.
King had proposed mandatory testing earlier in the session, but he backed off that approach after complaints from local officials about the expense of the testing.
Under the bill, the UIL must report its findings to the Legislature in two years, including a model for random steroid testing. If the Legislature determines that steroid use has not significantly declined, the state could direct the UIL to begin random testing.
The bill now goes to the Texas Senate.
