Athletics: Texas lawmakers halt steroid testing for high school athletes

FILE - This Feb. 13, 2007 file photo shows steroids purchased through the mail by undercover law enforcement officials. Vials of HCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin), and Bacteriostatic water, left, 2 vials of Stanozolo, center, and testosterone (cypionate: enanthate: propionate) right, are displayed with white clompiphenene and green anastrozole pills in Albany, N.Y. New research published Monday, Feb. 3, 2014, in the journal Pediatrics, has found that gay and bisexual teen boys use illicit steroids at a rate almost six times higher than among straight kids. The study is billed as the first to examine the problem; previous research has reported similar disparities for other substance abuse. (AP Photo/Albany Times Union, Will Waldron, File) ORG XMIT: NYALT101 — FILE – This Feb. 13, 2007 file photo shows steroids purchased through the mail by undercover law enforcement officials. Vials of HCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin), and Bacteriostatic water, left, 2 vials of Stanozolo, center, and testosterone (cypionate: enanthate: propionate) right, are displayed with white clompiphenene and green anastrozole pills in Albany, N.Y. New research published Monday, Feb. 3, 2014, in the journal Pediatrics, has found that gay and bisexual teen boys use illicit steroids at a rate almost six times higher than among straight kids. The study is billed as the first to examine the problem; previous research has reported similar disparities for other substance abuse. (AP Photo/Albany Times Union, Will Waldron, File) ORG XMIT: NYALT101

Texas lawmakers voted Friday to dismantle the state’s high school steroid testing program after eight years and more than $10 million spent collecting thousands of samples that turned up only a handful of cheaters.

Once lauded as a model for the nation, the program instead turned into a target for critics, who called it an ineffective waste of money. Several lawmakers defended the program Friday as an effective deterrent against steroid use but said it was no longer needed.

“We spent a lot of money. We raised awareness. We saved lives,” said Rep. Dan Flynn, a Republican who helped write the original testing law in 2007.

Friday’s vote stripped all money for the testing program out of the next state budget, which was sent to Gov. Greg Abbott to sign into law. click here for complete story