The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) last week adopted a policy providing for random testing for all performance-enhancing drugs among high school athletes—the first policy of its kind in the nation.

The testing will be conducted among individuals and teams eligible for state championship competitions, according to NJSIAA officials.

Sign or Don’t Play Starting this fall, student athletes and their legal guardians will receive forms asking them to consent to the random testing. If they do not sign, the students will be deemed ineligible to participate in the sport for the year.

The annual permission forms will be maintained by school principals. NJSIAA will pay for the testing.

Testing at Tourneys Testing will begin after the start of a team’s post-season tournament. It will take place at tournament sites. The tests will screen for approximately 80 banned substances, including some over-the-counter supplements, stimulants, and diuretics, along with illegal substances such as cocaine and steroids, according to the NJSIAA.

Test results will remain confidential—between the student, their legal guardians and their school.

The new NJSIAA policy resulted from recommendations of a state task force formed last year by former Gov. Richard J. Codey.

Expands Testing New Jersey local school boards have had statutory authority to adopt random drug testing policies for almost a decade. Last August, Governor Codey signed legislation that added steroids to the types of substances that could be screened through such testing.

New Jersey School Boards Association statistics show that approximately 15 districts have adopted random drug testing policies—although, in practice, none of them screen for performance-enhancing drugs.

The new NJSIAA policy is significant because it will implement random drug testing for steroids on a statewide basis. (NJSIAA’s membership includes nearly every public and non-public high school in New Jersey.)

Student Health NJSBA believes that, to protect student health, local boards of education need the authority to adopt random drug testing policies. That authority should involve screening for steroid use.

A 2005 study conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, found that 2.6% of high school seniors reported using anabolic steroids at least once. Use of steroids has been linked to helping athletes boost their performance and muscle mass, but also could cause irreversible damage to health including liver and kidney tumors and cancer.