Year-Round Drug-Testing Program Overview

Since 1999, NCAA drug-testing programs have been administered by The National Center for Drug Free Sport. The Center randomly selects football and track and field programs for short-notice testing (less than 48 hours notice to the schools). The Center also randomly selects athletes for testing based on the institutional squad lists.

Every Division I and II football program is tested at least once each academic year. Some are tested two or more times, depending on the random draw.

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

The costs include both postseason and year-round drug testing and include all administrative, collection and laboratory costs except for appeal support.

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 year-round program tends to be less than the rate found in other national or international "out-of-competition" programs. It is possible that the difference can be attributed to the NCAA's emphasis on football testing, which is not a sport included in other national or international circles. The NFL does not publish its data. It is also possible that NCAA institutional testing (testing done by the schools separate from the NCAA testing) might further reduce the rate of positive cases.

Since the NCAA implemented its year-round drug-testing program, the national drug-use studies have shown a decrease in steroid use in college football.

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 all college athletes should be tested by the NCAA and 55% stated that drug testing by the NCAA has deterred college athletes from using drugs. The drug subcommittee will study whether these data are significantly different for I and II football athletes and I track and field athletes.

NCAA year-round drug testing 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.

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

For the past three years, the CSMAS committee has recommended expansion of the year-round drug-testing program in the sport of I and II baseball. The committee recommended the expansion as a result of the 1997 national drug-use study. The expansion received support from baseball coaches and NCAA baseball committees. Division II will implement a pilot testing program in baseball starting January 2002. Division I did not supported the expansion.

The CSMAS committee is reviewing the 2001 study's data to determine whether it continues to support expansion of year-round testing into Division I Baseball.

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. This is a greater issue in track and field than it is in football.

In June 2001, the drug subcommittee began discussion of expanding year-round drug testing to include ephedrine and possibly other stimulants. This discussion will continue at the drug subcommittee's September 2001 meeting and at the full-committee meeting December 2001.