Student Drug Tests

* Re the Supreme Court OK for drug testing of student athletes: As a professional involved in developing drug tests for top-level athletes, it appears to me that many people have missed the point of testing student athletes for drugs. I don’t hear complaints from athletes who may have lost to those using performance-enhancing drugs. Just look at the criticism that Shirley Babashoff was subjected to when she stated that she was certain the East German women were using drugs in the Montreal Olympics. Now that the East German data is available for the world to see, it is obvious that those women clearly had an unfair advantage. Many of them have suffered serious health problems as a result of being on anabolic steroids for years.

One doesn’t have to have a crystal ball to realize that there are a number of athletes, at all levels, who are using performance-enhancing substances. The incentive is simply the almighty dollar. However, these athletes are taking severe health risks. It is only a matter of time until health complications appear.

The Supreme Court decision just might help protect future generations of young American athletes from the effects of performance-enhancing substances that result in unfair competition and serious health risks that may even be fatal.

ALLEN K. MURRAY

Newport Beach