Postseason Drug-Testing Program Overview

Since 1999, NCAA drug-testing programs have been administered by The National Center for Drug Free Sport. The Center selects NCAA postseason events for testing and submits the confidential testing schedule to the NCAA president for approval on behalf of the NCAA Executive Committee. Each NCAA championship is tested at least once every five years.

The Center provides collectors, supplies, on-site support and administrative services for the program. The Center provides results reporting and positive-case administration.

The Committee on CSMAS relies on the NCAA national drug-use studies to measure the effectiveness of the drug-testing programs. Drug testing is designed to provide a deterrent to the use of banned substances. Prevention can be a difficult thing to quantify. Although the committee publishes the annual report on positive results, it does so only for purposes of open disclosure and to provide the membership with a sense of what drugs are detected.

The "percent-positive rate" the NCAA finds in its postseason program is very similar to and consistent with the rate found in other national or international in-competition programs.

Since the NCAA implemented its postseason drug-testing program, the national drug-use studies have generally shown a decrease in most drug use. Reported steroid use began to decrease after the start of NCAA year-round testing. Marijuana use trends among athletes mirror trends seen in the student body; however, use among athletes as a whole is less than that of the general student body.

The 2001 NCAA drug-use study showed that 17% of the athletes surveyed said that the threat of NCAA drug testing discouraged them from using banned substances (31.2% said they would not have used banned substances regardless; 45.5% did not answer the question). In another section of the survey, 56.5% of athletes stated that they agreed that the NCAA should test all college athletes and 55% stated that drug testing by the NCAA has deterred college athletes from using drugs.

NCAA drug testing during postseason play continues to receive strong support by athletes, coaches and the public. NCAA drug-testing programs are highly regarded for their efficacy and quality of administration.

The championship program and drug-testing protocol receive continuous evaluation by the NCAA membership (semi-annual surveys conducted by the drug subcommittee), on-site evaluations by NCAA drug-testing site coordinators, The National Center for Drug Free Sport and its collectors, NCAA health and safety staff, and the Committee on CSMAS.

It is too early to project what changes the committee will implement to the NCAA drug-testing program as a result of the 2001 drug survey. The committee began its data review in June 2001.

The committee is studying modification of its penalty structure. This might include adopting different penalties depending on the substance involved. The committee is also studying, with the assistance of NCAA legal counsel, whether the NCAA should recognize drug-testing sanctions applied by other national and international sports organizations. Currently, athletes who test positive as part of another international or national athletics drug-testing program are able to compete at NCAA member schools as long as they report the positive test result to their school and pass an NCAA drug test. This process is not looked upon favorably by other nations, which see the U.S. colleges as providing a safe harbor for known drug users to continue to train and compete.