Steroid testing at every level of professional athletics is an absolute necessity. If Alex Rodriguez had been tested for steroids his entire life, it seems — in theory — a lot less likely that he would have landed the A-Roid nickname, based simply on a structural integrity to his life that would have deterred the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

So it’s relatively scary to find out that high schools in Florida will no longer conduct steroid testing, resulting from a lack of government funding.

[...]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.”

State money most certainly needs to be directed towards programs designed to benefit society as a whole, making this move understandable. What makes the whole process deplorable, though, is the fact that Congress continues to plow through millions of dollars in an effort to hawk down admitted steroid users and alleged perjurers.

And yes, the “one in 600″ statistic is “troubling” because it makes it difficult to justify testing at a high-school level. But there’s a reason the phrase “nip it in the bud” is so prominent in our nomenclature, and that’s because it’s a popular phrase that, when practiced, is quite effective (if that makes sense).

So, to sum up: Dear government, please stop wasting our money chasing old cheaters with the expressed intent of deterring future cheaters, when it makes much, much, much more sense to deter youngsters at an earlier level. Like, um, now.

Via FanIQ