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

As the federal government cracks down on drug testing polices in sports, officials at the professional and collegiate levels are making sure that no one slips through the cracks.

The Clean Sports Act, which was proposed earlier this spring, would prevent the use of performance-enhancing drugs by professional athletes. Similar jurisdiction has also been proposed at the collegiate level.

Although the government is looking more closely at the professional sports level, organizations such as the NCAA and the Big 12 Conference are feeling the pressure to reevaluate their policies.

The NCAA tests every Division I institution at least once a year. The Big 12 also requires at least one test per year of randomly selected members of all sports for steroids and street drugs.

“The NCAA has a good setup,” said Austin Flynn, Iowa State football player.

“At anytime you could have three different people coming in; it’s a good system. If you do it, you’ll get caught.”

The Big 12 has decided to revamp some of its testing policies. The conference has increased the number of random drug tests that it administers, in addition to adding more substances to its banned substance list.

The NCAA, which has been conducting drug tests on athletes since 1986, also decided to increase annual testing last year.

One major addition is the increased annual testing to sports other than football. For Division I and II schools, the NCAA now tests 18 football players at random as well as eight players from another sport.

Unlike the NCAA and the Big 12, Iowa State hasn’t made any immediate changes to its policies.

“Iowa State spends approximately $12,000 to $15,000 annually on its drug-testing program,” said Bill Smith, associate athletic director at Iowa State.

This is an increase compared to the $5,000 that Iowa State was spending on drug testing in 2002.

Laura Reed, associate director of Human Resources at the University of Iowa, said they spend more than $200,000 a year on drug testing, but those costs include counselors and prevention programs along with the salaries and benefits for all of the employees in those areas. The university doesn’t actually separate out the amount that they spend on drug testing alone, she said.

The University of Northern Iowa is even further behind in drug testing. Panther athletes are not subject to any testing from the university.

“We simply don’t have the funds to administer our own tests,” said Don Bishop, athletic training coordinator at Northern Iowa.

While it might look like Iowa State is behind, Cyclone administrators only test for the use of “street drugs,” not for the use of steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs.

Iowa State administrators are confident that the tests they administer for street drugs, such as marijuana, are effective.

Between 1999 and 2002, ISU athletes tested positive for street drugs 10 times, all for marijuana.

“This number has significantly increased since 2002,” Smith said. “Which shows that our funds seem to be of the most use in the area of street drugs.”

As for testing for performance-enhancing drugs, administrators are leaving that up to the Big 12 and the NCAA. Steroids have been the primary concern, but other substances have been prompting more recent concern.

Ephedrine, a powerful stimulant contained in some cold remedies and sold to promote weight loss, and Erythropoietin, a naturally occurring hormone that increases the production of red blood cells and increases the athlete’s endurance by improving the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, are other common drugs among athletes.

“Programs in the performance-enhancing drug area are where we wanted coordination with the Big 12 and the NCAA,” Smith said.

Many ISU athletes take comfort in knowing that it isn’t easy to get away with using performance-enhancing drugs. Others don’t even see drug use as a problem within ISU athletics.

“I don’t know anyone who has used or been on any banned substances,” said Jenny Lindberg, a former Iowa State swimmer. “Drug testing is a good thing because performance should be based upon how much work and effort you are able to put into it and not by taking a drug.”