Among the more serious side effects of steroid use, there also is the potential for baldness and acne, at least one or perhaps both of which are serious turn-offs for most teens.

Many professional athletes apparently don't care about those last two factors, and a good number of them seem less than concerned about the more serious problems associated with steroid use, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, liver problems, cancer, stroke and blood clots.

What causes their lack of concern is the money associated with being pumped up and powerful. Many pro athletes have been in the hot seat lately for their use of performance-enhancing drugs, but they continue to laugh all the way to the bank.

You'd think the baldness and acne thing alone would be enough reason for kids not to use steroids, but it's not. The California Interscholastic Federation reports that in 2003, the latest year for which complete data is available, an estimated 20,315 CIF athletes used steroids. And an even greater number are believed to have used various supplements, designed to give athletes an edge, but which in reality mimic the molecular structure of speed.

Is this how we want our teenagers to improve their skills in football, baseball, softball, basketball, soccer and all the other sports played at the high school level?

The honest answer, of course, is no. Hard work and dedication have always been the recommended pathways to success, not the power that comes from a pill or injection.

To that end, the CIF last May began notifying schools throughout California of a new policy with regard to steroid use. The edict requires each athlete to sign a pledge not to use performance-enhancing drugs. What the CIF did not do, could not do, is back up the new policy with a drug-testing program, which experts said would cost the state's high school districts more than $70 million a year. In these times of budget deficits at just about every level of government, spending that kind of money just isn't feasible.

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So it's been left up to local districts how best to enforce the pledge policy. In most cases, districts are opting to keep their options open, but penalties could range from being suspended from the team or school, to expulsion.

It's also going to be up to parents to start early in educating their young athletes about the proper path to sports achievement - not an easy task, when steroid-using pros continue to get rich. But it's a responsibility we all need to accept.

September 28, 2005