Editor’s note: This is the first of two articles discussing the Clean Sports Act and how it affects sports at the professional, college and high school levels.

In some cases, it’s true that the older you get, the wiser you become. In the instance of athletes and the use of performance-enhancing drugs, student-athletes are setting the example for those in the pros.

In May, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. and Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va. proposed the Clean Sports Act of 2005 which would strengthen drug-testing procedures and tighten penalties for professional athletes who test positive. The act applies to the four major professional sports and targets steroids and amphetamines.

The act applies to professional sports, but Waxman wrote in a newsletter that the NCAA should take a look at its procedures and adhere to them as well. In fact, it appears the professionals should be adopting the NCAA’s successful standards.

The NCAA enlists the services of The National Center for Drug Free Sport, in which professionals not affiliated with the league conduct testing on student-athletes. Testing is entirely random and year-round, regardless if their respective sport’s season is going on, and every sport is in consideration. The center sends out e-mails no earlier than two days in advance to inform institutions of the athletes it has selected.

The NCAA has a strict, extensive list of banned substances that would make it difficult for any athlete to skirt around.

Street drugs and anabolic agents, which cause the muscles to enlarge, are two of the most common substances athletes are screened for, as well as stimulants and diuretics.

ISU athletes are tested not only by the NCAA, but the Big 12 conference and Iowa State as well.

Cyclone football player Austin Flynn said athletes have a short amount of time between knowledge of the testing and the procedure, which is a benefit to how well the system works.

“I think the NCAA’s testing is very effective,” Flynn said. “It’s all pretty legit, and they have a good setup. If you do that stuff, you’ll get caught, especially with how regular and randomized it is.”

Denise Harklau, head women’s athletic trainer at Iowa State, said she thinks that the Clean Sports Act should have been implemented a long time ago and it hopefully will reach more on the high school level.

“The NCAA is stricter than this proposed act, and that policy has been in place a lot longer,” Harklau said of the federal legislation. “I hope this sends a positive message and has a trickle-down effect to high schools.”

In an effort to better educate colleges and high schools in numerous areas of athletics, experts and professionals from Iowa’s three state universities will host a conference Dec. 14 at Iowa State.

The conference will feature a keynote speaker from the Center of Drug Free Sport, who Harklau said will dispense advice and information to the audience.

“The conference will be educating athletic directors and coaches at the high school levels about what our guidelines are and what we’re doing at colleges,” Harklau said.

“We’ll be getting the message out and providing resources as a commitment to keeping athletes free of drugs and supplements.”

Iowa high schools are void of any testing policies, and Code 808A of Iowa law constitutes random drug testing as an unreasonable search, which is a violation of the law.

Alan Beste, a licensed athletic trainer for the Iowa High School Athletic Association, said drug-related problems are few in Iowa high schools. Surveys conducted in Iowa and on the national level have shown that 2 to 4 percent of high school athletes have tried steroids, while 10 to 15 percent use creatine, a natural substance used to boost energy in high-intensity workouts.

Though creatine is becoming increasingly popular with junior high and high school athletes, some coaches are thinking it is better to be safe than sorry.

Bruce Vertanen, head football coach at Ames High School, said the use of supplements is discouraged on his team.

“We’re not able to be experts in all areas of supplements, and we would need to have the athlete consult a doctor before taking any,” Vertanen said.

Experts at the high school level said education is the best way of getting through to athletes without the need of testing.

“We firmly believe education is the key at the high school level,” Beste said.

“If schools do discover an athlete using performance enhancing substances, there needs to be penalties in place, but there also needs to be concern for the athlete shown in the form of counseling.”

A high school athlete found using steroids would be ineligible from competition for one year, and the penalties are just as strict in collegiate athletics. A first-time offense bans a collegiate athlete from competition for 365 days, as well as losing a year of eligibility, while a second offense requires a lifetime ban.

Beste said the need to use performance-enhancing drugs is a spiraling effect with pressures that begin at the high school level.

“I think the high school concerns stem from professional and college sports,” he said. “Some pro athletes may choose to use because of the money; college athletes want to become pro so they can make the money; high school athletes want the college scholarship.”

Jim Nespor, director of Cyclone Sports Medicine and a former drug-testing consultant for the U.S. Olympic Committee, said the simple fact of “winning at all costs” is reason enough for athletes to use supplements, regardless of the consequences.

“Someone polled Olympic athletes a few years ago,” he said. “They asked if the athlete could take something that would guarantee them a gold medal, but may cost them a few years of their life, would they take it? A majority said they would.”