Sec. 33.091. PREVENTION OF ILLEGAL STEROID USE; RANDOM TESTING. (a) In this section:

(1) "League" means the University Interscholastic League.

(2) "Parent" includes a guardian or other person standing in parental relation.

(3) "Steroid" means an anabolic steroid as described by Section 481.104, Health and Safety Code.

(b) The league shall adopt rules prohibiting a student from participating in an athletic competition sponsored or sanctioned by the league unless:

(1) the student agrees not to use steroids and, if the student is enrolled in high school, the student submits to random testing for the presence of illegal steroids in the student's body, in accordance with the program established under Subsection (d); and

(2) the league obtains from the student's parent a statement signed by the parent and acknowledging that:

(A) the parent's child, if enrolled in high school, may be subject to random steroid testing;

(B) state law prohibits possessing, dispensing, delivering, or administering a steroid in a manner not allowed by state law;

(C) state law provides that bodybuilding, muscle enhancement, or the increase of muscle bulk or strength through the use of a steroid by a person who is in good health is not a valid medical purpose;

(D) only a licensed practitioner with prescriptive authority may prescribe a steroid for a person; and

(E) a violation of state law concerning steroids is a criminal offense punishable by confinement in jail or imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

(c) The league shall:

(1) develop an educational program for students engaged in extracurricular athletic activities sponsored or sanctioned by the league, parents of those students, and coaches of those activities regarding the health effects of steroid use; and

(2) make the program available to school districts.

(c-1) A school district shall require that each district employee who serves as an athletic coach at or above the seventh grade level for an extracurricular athletic activity sponsored or sanctioned by the league complete:

(1) the educational program developed by the league under Subsection (c); or

(2) a comparable program developed by the district or a private entity with relevant expertise.

(d) The league shall adopt rules for the annual administration of a steroid testing program under which high school students participating in an athletic competition sponsored or sanctioned by the league are tested at multiple times throughout the year for the presence of steroids in the students' bodies. The testing program must:

(1) require the random testing of a statistically significant number of high school students in this state who participate in athletic competitions sponsored or sanctioned by the league;

(2) provide for the selection of specific students described by Subdivision (1) for testing through a process that randomly selects students from a single pool consisting of all students who participate in any activity for which the league sponsors or sanctions athletic competitions;

(3) be administered at approximately 30 percent of the high schools in this state that participate in athletic competitions sponsored or sanctioned by the league;

(4) provide for a process for confirming any initial positive test result through a subsequent test conducted as soon as practicable after the initial test, using a sample that was obtained at the same time as the sample used for the initial test;

(5) require the testing to be performed only by an anabolic steroid testing laboratory with a current certification from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the World Anti-Doping Agency, or another appropriate national or international certifying organization; and

(6) provide for a period of ineligibility from participation in an athletic competition sponsored or sanctioned by the league for any student with a confirmed positive test result or any student who refuses to submit to random testing.

(e) Results of a steroid test conducted under Subsection (d) are confidential and, unless required by court order, may be disclosed only to the student and the student's parent and the activity directors, principal, and assistant principals of the school attended by the student.

(f) From funds already appropriated, the agency shall pay the costs of the steroid testing program established under Subsection (d).

(g) The league may increase the membership fees required of school districts that participate in athletic competitions sponsored or sanctioned by the league in an amount necessary to offset the cost of league activities under this section.

(h) Subsection (b)(1) does not apply to the use by a student of a steroid that is dispensed, prescribed, delivered, and administered by a medical practitioner for a valid medical purpose and in the course of professional practice, and a student is not subject to a period of ineligibility under Subsection (d)(6) on the basis of that steroid use.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 1177 (H.B. 3563), Sec. 1, eff. June 18, 2005.

Amended by:

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1292 (S.B. 8), Sec. 1, eff. June 15, 2007.

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1292 (S.B. 8), Sec. 2, eff. June 15, 2007.