500 Drug Tests Yield No Positives: Head Trainer Says It?S Too Early to Draw Conclusions From First Round of Testing Under New
By Joseph Person, The State, Columbia, S.C., The State, Columbia, S.C.
Dec. 23–USC administered nearly 500 random drug tests during the past six months without an athlete testing positive, according to results released Thursday in response to a Freedom of Information request filed by The State.
USC first-year athletics director Eric Hyman instituted a new drug-testing program in August that included more lenient penalties. Head athletics trainer Rod Walters said his office administered 15 percent to 20 percent fewer tests than in previous semesters. But the rest of the program — the types of banned substances tested and the tolerance levels signifying a positive test — is unchanged.
“Traditionally, we’ve had positives every semester,” Walters said Thursday. I don’t think it’s any different as far as the tests. The notifications (of when athletes will be tested) are still the same. … I think we’re just in a lucky time that we didn’t have any positives.”
Between July and December, USC performed 434 tests for drugs of abuse, 28 tests for anabolic steroids and 30 tests for alcohol, according to the school’s data.
Walters said he was surprised the screenings yielded no positives.
“Am I glad we didn’t have any positives? You’re darn right I am,” he said. “Am I surprised? Yes, because we test at a low level at a very sensitive level. Therefore, you’re subject to the possibility of having positive tests there.
“At the same time, many of the drugs that are out there have a very short half-life, so they’re not in your system very long.”
Walters cited cocaine, other stimulants and prescription medications as drugs that remain in a person’s body a short time.
Walters said it was “way too early” to draw conclusions from the first round of testing in the revised wellness program, which allows an athlete to fail three drug tests before being kicked off a team. The previous policy had a “two strikes and out” penalty.
Reach Person at (803) 771-8496 or jperson@thestate.com [mailto:jperson@thestate.com].
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Copyright (c) 2005, The State, Columbia, S.C.
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