The NCAA’s new drug-testing program that will...

The NCAA’s new drug-testing program that will begin screening collegiate athletes with this fall’s postseason competition, possibly starting with cross-country, will cost about $950,000 in its first year.

The NCAA will also contribute $2 million to laboratories that will expand their testing efforts. At the same time, it will spend $430,000 on a drug education program in which videotapes and other material will be sent to schools and youth groups.

Executive Director Walter Byers said that urine samples might be taken both before and after events and that if an athlete tests positive for any of the substances, most of which are not controlled under criminal laws, he or she would be declared ineligible. If the test is made after a championship event, a winning team with an athlete testing positive would forfeit the game.

The tests will be supervised by laboratories at the UCLA Medical Center and the National Institute for Scientific Research at the University of Quebec in Montreal, Canada.