Flynn Comments on Dismantling of Steroids Program

AUSTIN (AP/Staff) – An East Texan is weighing in after Texas lawmakers voted Friday to dismantle the state’s high school steroids testing program. The program ran eight years and saw more than $10 million spent collecting thousands of samples that turned up only a handful of cheaters. Once lauded as a model for the nation, the program instead turned into a target for critics who called it an ineffective waste of money. Several lawmakers defended it Friday as an effective deterrent against steroid use, but said it was no longer needed. “We spent a lot of money. We raised awareness. We saved lives,” said Rep. Dan Flynn of Van, a Republican who helped write the original testing law in 2007. The budget will be sent to Gov. Greg Abbott to sign into law.