Bill in Congress Could Lead to Federal Role in Testing College Athletes for Drugs

By Welch Suggs, Chronicle of Higher Education, May 31, 2005

College athletes have been noticeably absent from Congressional debates over performance-enhancing drugs. New legislation pending in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, however, could trigger government oversight of drug testing in college sports.

Frank D. Uryasz, president of the National Center for Drug-Free Sport, said on Friday that until last week, it appeared that the federal government would leave colleges out of the contentious debate over alleged steroid use by professional athletes, such as the baseball players Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire. Mr. Uryasz, whose organization runs the NCAA's drug-testing program, questioned the need for the federal government to get involved in "going on campus, collecting samples, and administering appeals in positive cases."

"The NCAA has shown it can administer its own drug-testing program, and it has done so since 1986," Mr. Uryasz said. "There’s no evidence to suggest it needs to be changed in any way."
The proper role for the government, he said, is on the supply side -- giving the Drug Enforcement Agency more resources to regulate the flow of anabolic steroids into the country, for example.

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