Fla. school steroid testing ends over money

[Scurrilous]

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"Maybe Florida's pilot steroid testing program scared high school athletes away from performance-enhancing drugs. Or maybe performance-enhancing drugs were never a major issue in the state's schools.

Whatever the case, the testing program has been killed, at least for now, but not just because it found only one steroid user among 600 teens tested. State officials said that in the tough economy, they can't justify spending the $100,000. Tests were randomly administered at 53 schools, at a cost of $166 apiece.

"We completely understand," said Cristina Alvarez, spokeswoman for the Florida High School Athletic Association. "We know that money has to go to certain things right now to help the entire state, not just one association."

The decision came not long before baseball star Alex Rodriguez, a Miami high school legend, admitted using steroids during his Major League career. It leaves just three states - New Jersey, Illinois and Texas - testing high school athletes for steroids."

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