Patty Hart

Walker County Schools officials want to head off anabolic steroid use among high school students by adding the substance to the system's drug-testing list.

Chris Chambers, Walker County coordinator of student services, said the idea is to deter drug use, and steroids simply are another dangerous substance.

Walker County first started drug testing two years ago, Mr. Chambers said, and adding steroids is only natural. Steroids are not a problem in Walker schools, and testing could help keep it that way, he said.

Whitfield County is the only system among the four Georgia counties nearest Chattanooga that tests high schoolers for both steroids and drugs. Catoosa tests for drugs but not steroids, while schools in Dade County and Dalton do no testing, according to school officials.

In Walker County, students are randomly selected for testing.

"Once a month, any student that either drives a vehicle on campus, participates in any club or after-school activity ... goes into the random sampling that the computer generates for testing," Mr. Chambers said.

The goal is not "to try and catch a kid using drugs" but to keep them from using, he said.

Students who test positive face a 10-day suspension from their sport, activity or driving, he said. The second violation leads to a one-year suspension of privileges, and a third results in a permanent revocation, Mr. Chambers said.

Students who test positive receive counseling but aren't kicked out of school as long as they don't have the substance at school, he said.

Walker's moves to curb drug use are not unusual, said Matt Cardoza, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Education.

Suspension from extracurricular activities such as driving to school is common, "since parking at school is a privilege and not a right," Mr. Cardoza said.

Dr. Bill Moore Smith, team physician for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, told the Chattanooga Times Free Press in 2007 that the benefits of steroids can be deceptive and dangerous.

"The sad thing about steroids is that they work in the short term," Dr. Smith said. "You get the benefits very quickly, but what users don't see is the dark side of steroids that comes later with possible problems with your heart, liver and even cancer."

Patty Hart, vice chairwoman of the Walker County Board of Education, said those risks are why officials want to stave off problems before they start.

The school board will continue the steroid discussion at its Nov. 16 meeting, officials said.

STUDENT DRUG TESTING

* Catoosa: Athletes and band members are tested for drugs before the season starts and randomly thereafter. No testing for steroids.

* Dade: No testing for drugs or steroids.

* Dalton: No testing for drugs or steroids.

* Walker: Athletes are tested for drugs, and steroids could be added to test list. Students who drive to school are tested randomly.

* Whitfield: Participants in any extracurricular activity are tested for steroids and drugs randomly during the season.

Source: Northwest Georgia public school officials