In case you missed it, Dr. James Forrester, a Gaston County lawmaker, presented a bill that would require all high school athletes to be eligible for random drug testing. Bill 161 would reserve $50,000 for the drug testing, and ban student-athletes from participating if they test positive for a drug or refuse to take a drug test.

Dr. Forrester cited a 3% increase in the use of steroids among high school athletes nationwide. Here's my question, is it really worth it?

Steroids may be a problem in professional sports like Major League Baseball, but being around high school athletes on a daily basis, I can say that there isn't an obvious steroid problem. The number one substance abuse problem among high school athletes, and high schoolers in general, is alcohol. I don't know the exact statistics, but number two would probably be marijuana.

It's not logical. $50,000 might be enough to test a player or two in each district. I don't know about Gaston County, but Wake County schools could use $50,000 to help in construction and conversion to year round calendars. Why would we support a drug testing policy that is going to cost us thousands of dollars when our school system doesn't even have enough money to build enough schools for the number of students it has?

Another concern, what if the athlete is on some sort of steroid prescription medicine for asthma or another ailment? Will that steroid show up in a drug test? If it does, will it disqualify the athlete? That's not fair, and it will deter some people from playing sports - which won't help the obesity problem.

Dr. Forrester needs to do a little bit more research on his proposal. It's not a completely horrible idea, it's just not logical right now. I do think more needs to be done to prevent drug use among high school athletes, but I'm not sure a single drug test in one district is sufficient.