Schools drug test crackdown
Compulsory testing in SA on the cards
COMPULSORY testing for banned substances at schools may soon become a reality. The chief executive of the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport, Khalid Galant, has confirmed that an agreement in principle with the Department of Basic Education to introduce compulsory testing at school is on track.
“The Department of Basic Education has assured us it is supportive of the project, especially the independent part of it, where authority does not rest with the headmasters.
“We have been assured by the department that it has allocated funds for testing in the next budget cycle. At present, the institute funds all testing.”
Two thirds of teenage boys who take steroids do so simply to look good, while the other third do so to improve their sports performance. This is despite the dangers of steroid abuse by males.
The risks include infertility, breast development, shrinking of testicles, male pattern baldness, tendon rupture, heart enlargement, liver cancer and tumours, severe acne and cysts, aggression, mania and delusion. These details were included in the warning SharkSmart doctor Glen Hagemann gave at the 22nd annual conference of Headmasters of SA State Boys High Schools, in Durban last week.
He said the statistics on steroid abuse were among the findings SharkSmart made in a survey of 10 000 schoolboys.
Steroids were not the only problem, he said. The use of banned substances, such as stimulants like ritalin, methylhexanamine and cannabis, was also a problem. Steroids remain the No 1 cause of doping offences, according to information gathered by the institute. The institute’s 2012-13 findings show methylhexanamine, which can be fatal, is the most commonly used stimulant. It is often included in supplements, but may not be listed on the label. It has been alleged that fitness trainers may be involved in the distribution of banned substances.“It’s important to know cannabis can stay in your system for eight to 10 weeks,” said Hagemann. “As a sportsman, especially be aware if you go to a party and someone offers you a hubbly bubbly. “Between 15 and 25 percent of overthe-counter supplements are said to be tainted with banned substances. You are playing Russian roulette with these and should take only those supplements that have been tested by an independent testing agency.”
When it comes to testing at schools right now, the headmaster has to ask the institute to carry this out, and it is done free of charge. There can be no random testing. “There has to be reasonable suspicion to carry out a test. Only the headmaster and the parents get the results,” he said. A first offence results in a year’s ban, and the worst-case scenario is expulsion. The onus falls on schools in the testing process.
This will change when legislation makes testing compulsory. It will allow for random testing by the institute, like that at sports federation level.
Federation testing for sports is carried out across the world. A first offence for steroid use gets a four-year ban and a second offence up to a life ban from all sports. Galant said school heads and governing bodies should understand that testing was a deterrent to steroid use and not a panacea.
“More emphasis must be placed on values and ethics, so pupils have a value system in which to make decisions when faced with doping options.”