MISSION VIEJO : Steroids Are Added to Schools’ Drug List

Students in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District who possess anabolic steroids on campus could be expelled under a new district policy.

The policy puts steroids on the same list as cocaine, heroin, alcohol and other controlled substances. The state has asked districts to add steroids to their lists.

Jim Hamilton, the district’s director of pupil services, said there is no evidence of widespread steroid use in the district. He said he knows only of one instance in which a student was found with steroids.

“But this is an important item,” Hamilton said. “Students need to know that there is a penalty for using steroids.”

Non-medical use of anabolic steroids is a violation of both state and federal law. Athletes, however, sometimes use the drugs to increase muscle mass, strength and training capacity. Steroids--synthetic derivatives of the male hormone testosterone--have been linked to sterility, impotence, liver damage, increased cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and even violent behavior.

About 262,000 students nationwide use anabolic steroids, according to a federal Department of Health and Human Services study released last year.

“School boards do not have to list steroids in their drug policies, but they should,” said Nancy Hugo, a drug policy expert with the Orange County Department of Education. She did not know if there are other local districts with similar policies.

Capistrano Unified School District, Saddleback Valley’s neighbor, does not have a specific prohibition against steroid possession, but it does have a general ban on the possession of all illegal drugs, spokeswoman Jacqueline Cerra said.

Hamilton said signs have been posted in the district’s weight rooms and gyms warning students about the health hazards associated with steroid use. He said steroids will also be listed with other drugs on a card that students and parents must sign acknowledging they are aware that possession can cause expulsion.

The district does not have mandatory drug testing, only a voluntary program for some high school athletes.

“But if Johnny all of a sudden buffs out, then we will have a talk with his parents,” he said.