79R15472 JLZ-D

By:  Keffer of Eastland                                           H.R. No. 1593



R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, Recent congressional hearings into the use of 
anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs by 
high-profile professional athletes have highlighted widespread 
concerns about the prevalence of such substance abuse, including 
the degree to which the practice has filtered down to high school 
athletes and even to younger middle school students; and
	WHEREAS, Developed in the 1930s to treat certain 
developmental abnormalities, anabolic steroids found their way 
outside the medical arena, first in the 1950s as bodybuilders and 
weightlifters discovered the compounds enabled them to gain 
strength and muscle mass more quickly than was possible through 
training and diet alone and later when athletes in other sports came 
to believe that using the drugs would boost their performance; and
	WHEREAS, Although these steroids are known to have numerous 
adverse physical and psychological side effects, this knowledge did 
little to deter use of the drugs by athletes seeking a shortcut to 
becoming bigger and stronger or to gain a competitive edge on the 
field, court, track, or in the pool; and
	WHEREAS, In the past, steroid use was a phenomenon largely 
confined to competitors in collegiate, Olympic, and professional 
sports, where concern about the impact of such drug use led most 
major professional and amateur athletic organizations, including 
the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the International 
Olympic Committee, and the National Football League, to ban steroid 
use by their athletes; today, however, steroids are being used by 
athletes and nonathletes alike in high schools and even in middle 
schools across the country, and evidence suggests that steroid use 
among teenagers, and especially among aspiring athletes, is a large 
and growing problem; and
	WHEREAS, According to the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, more than 500,000 high school students have tried 
steroids, nearly three times the number just 10 years ago; the most 
recent survey by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the 
University of Michigan, who have studied the extent of drug use 
among high school students each year since 1975, found that more 
than 40 percent of high school seniors described steroids as fairly 
easy or very easy to obtain; and
	WHEREAS, That same NIDA survey, Monitoring the Future 2004, 
found that the percentage of students who perceived the harm in 
steroid use fell from 71 percent in 1992 to just 56 percent in 2004; 
this diminished perception of harm is especially worrisome, since 
steroids are particularly dangerous to adolescents at this stage in 
their development; even small doses of the drug can stop growth 
prematurely, and the risk of permanent physical impairment is 
compounded by the fact that adolescents who use steroids also may be 
at risk of becoming dependent on the drug and are more likely to use 
other addictive drugs and alcohol; and
	WHEREAS, There are social consequences as well; in 1991, 
Congress added anabolic steroids to the Controlled Substances Act 
as a Schedule III drug, making it illegal to possess or sell them 
without a valid prescription and allowing for the arrest of persons 
charged with illegal possession of a classified substance; since 
1989, Texas statutes have similarly prohibited any nonmedical use 
of anabolic steroids; and
	WHEREAS, Section 481.071(c), Health and Safety Code,  
specifically states that bodybuilding, muscle enhancement, or 
increasing muscle bulk or strength is not a valid medical purpose 
for anabolic steroid use by a healthy individual; Section 38.008, 
Education Code, requires each public middle and high school to post 
a notice to this effect, including notice that a violation of Texas 
steroid law is a criminal offense punishable by a jail or prison 
sentence; and
	WHEREAS, Given the increased attention to and concern about 
adolescent use of anabolic steroids, the 79th Texas Legislature 
currently is considering legislative measures specifically 
addressing steroid use by students engaged in extracurricular 
activities, but a law, once passed requires strict and certain 
enforcement if it is to have any effect; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 79th Texas 
Legislature hereby direct law enforcement agencies in this state to 
enforce laws prohibiting the illegal use of anabolic steroids by 
public school students engaged in extracurricular activities.