Student
steroid use targeted by Codey
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 • By
TERRENCE DOPP • The
Express-Times
TRENTON -- Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey
is seeking an end to steroid use in high school
sports.
Codey created an 18-member task force
Tuesday to study ways to curb use of steroids, human growth
hormone and other performance-enhancing drugs among New
Jersey's teens.
According to a survey by the National
Institute on Drug Abuse, an estimated 3.4 percent of the
nation's high school seniors admitted to trying the illicit
muscle builders, up 67 percent from 1991.
"This is an emergent public health
crisis," Codey said. "New Jersey cannot and will not bury
its head in the sand."
Codey made his remarks during a
Statehouse news conference announcing the panel.
Anabolic steroids, which are copies of
the male hormone testosterone, increase the size and
strength of muscle mass.But Codey and others link the drugs
to increased levels of rage in users, increased risk of
liver cancer, depression and in some cases
suicide.
An executive order signed by Codey
requires the task force to report its findings by Dec.
1.
Members range from Education Commissioner
William Librera and other educators to Sports Illustrated
writer and New Jerseyan Peter King.
Also serving on the panel is Lisa Brady,
currently superintendent of South Hunterdon Regional High
School. Before her current post, Brady was a principal of
Hunterdon Central Regional High School and a member of that
school's task force that recommended a high-profile drug
testing policy that made national headlines.
David G. Evans, an attorney and executive
director of the Drug Free School Zones Coalition, is yet
another member. Evans. like Brady, served on the task force
that implemented Hunterdon Central's policy of random
testing for all students involved in extracurricular
activities.
The task force will hold public hearings
across the state and educational programs for school
athletic directors in high schools.
Members said there are no predetermined
recommendations other than eradicating steroid
use.
"When you're 16, you don't think about
life at 40," said King, who in addition to writing for
Sports Illustrated appears on HBO Sports programs. "The
reason kids are doing this is that they don't know the
extent to which it will damage them later in
life."
According to statistics cited by Codey,
40 percent of 12th-gradersreferred to steroids as "easy" or
"fairly easy" to obtain.
According to national surveys of
teenagers, 2.4 percent of 10th-graders and 1.9 percent of
eighth-graders said they have tried steroids at least
once.
Steroid use by young girls to achieve a
muscular look is also on the rise, Codey said.
Use of steroids and other performance
enhancers in professional sports has become a hot topic
since Capitol Hill hearings earlier this year.
For example, former Oakland Athletics
slugger Jose Canseco, Yankee Jason Giambi and other renowned
players have been linked to widespread steroid use in Major
League Baseball.
Terrence Dopp is Trenton correspondent for The
Express-Times. He can be reached at 609-292-5154 or by
e-mail at tdopp@sjnewsco.com.
© 2005 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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